Western Sydney's struggle to cool down is set to heat up this year, with a mini-plebiscite and multiple reviews to determine the future of the region's swimming pools.
Two newly amalgamated council areas at Parramatta and Cumberland are attempting to fit together a complicated jigsaw of geography and community swimming needs, with some pools set to close and others not to be built.
The Parramatta War Memorial Pool will close in March owing to the design of the state government-sponsored reconstruction of Parramatta Stadium.
Parramatta Council says it is talking to the state government about the location and funds for a replacement pool – likely to be on the grounds of the former Parramatta Park Golf Course.
Parramatta Council also needs to find alternative venues for about 1400 students who had been enrolled in learn to swim programs at the soon-to-close pool. It is considering funding an upgrade of the swimming pool at Macarthur Girls High.
But the uncertainty over Parramatta's replacement pool is also affecting decisions made by neighbouring Cumberland Council.
The administrator of Cumberland Council, Viv May, told the council last month that a request for federal funds to replace Merrylands pool with a new aquatic and "wellness centre" had been rejected. The former Holroyd Council, which has been subsumed into Cumberland, had been hoping to help defray the estimated cost of the Merrylands centre with federal and state money.
"The former Holroyd Council built a community expectation in relation to the future of pools in that area that in my view was financially reckless – residents and ratepayers deserve better," Mr May said in an administrator's minute. Mr May said the cost of the Merrylands centre, as well as other pool upgrades, could rise to $83 million.
Cumberland Council faces multi-million dollar upgrade bills to existing pools at Wentworthville and Guildford, and is appealing to Parramatta to help with the running costs of Granville Pool.
Mr May requested a report into the future of the region's pools in September. But in his recent minute he said Cumberland would run a new consultation process.
"I find it disappointing that some have chosen to politicise such an important issue and I now have no confidence that an appropriate or fair consultation can take place having regard to the misinformation and basic lies that have been peddled – the reality is that in some quarters rumour has been treated as fact," Mr May said.
He said a "poll of electors" would be held on the pool issue alongside elections to select a new council in September.
A former mayor of Holroyd, Liberal Ross Grove, said he would "love" a council poll to determine the future of an issue that had been the subject of debate for almost a decade.
"Provided the next council implements what the poll's verdict is, that's the most important thing," Mr Grove said.
Another former Holroyd mayor, Labor's Greg Cummings, said Mr May should not be determining the future of services in the area. But Mr Cummings said if the Merrylands centre was no longer an option, other options would have to be assessed.
"The other thing that comes into play will be where the new Parramatta pool will be," Mr Cummings said. "If that comes into play that could change a lot of things. It [the Parramatta golf course site] is very close to the current Merrylands pool and the current Wentworthville pool."
