Independent councillor Anthony Swinsburg criticised successive NSW governments' handling of the Myuna Bay Sport and Recreation Centre closure and said there had been a "distinct lack of engagement" with Lake Macquarie City Council since 2019.
The seven-year Myuna Bay saga was brought to Lake Macquarie City Council's meeting on Monday by Cr Swinsburg's fellow West Ward colleague, Liberal Jason Pauling.
Cr Pauling's notice of motion called on the council to seek detailed advice on the status of the $40 million Myuna Bay replacement project, slated for a site at the Morisset Hospital from the NSW Minister for Sport Steve Kamper.
"Underlying for me in this notice of motion is that there has been a distinct lack of engagement by the NSW government, specifically Sport and Rec, with our council regarding plans for the replacement of Myuna Bay Sport and Rec Centre," Cr Swinsburg said.
"I wasn't around in 2019, at least not on the council anyway, but I do recall sitting in on a community forum hosted then by the NSW [Liberal] government, and they didn't really seem to take much notice of the community feedback at that time.
"And I was pretty perplexed at the time of the government's risk tolerance threshold."
The NSW government closed Myuna Bay suddenly in March 2019 following a report from Origin Energy that warned its Eraring Power Station's ash dam wall would rupture during a magnitude 5.9 earthquake.
Cr Swinsburg said, according to Geoscience Australia, the likelihood of an earthquake of that magnitude occurring in Lake Macquarie was once in 5000 years.
"In the real world, if a business agreed to close a multi-million dollar facility with an intention to relocate and replace it, but with no plan, no committed budget, and no demonstrated business case, all based on the risk of an event arising once every 5,000 years, then I suspect you might get thrown out of the boardroom," he said.
The latest information from the NSW government suggests the plan to build a replacement sport and rec centre at the Morisset Hospital site is being held up by NSW Health's delay in transferring psychiatric patients to Maitland Hospital.
Last year's state budget papers showed the project had been delayed until 2030.
"The community deserves to know what is being proposed, when it is being delivered, how it will be funded, and most importantly, whether it's going to be a genuine replacement for the statewide facility that has been lost," Cr Swinsburg said.
Cr Pauling said there had been waves of panic in 2019 when Myuna Bay closed, but the silence had been deafening since.
"When I think of risk assessment and what I think was an extreme reaction at the time, and as best I can tell, council as a whole agrees with me, because the road is still open, we still have a park in the nearby proximity, we still have a toilet block there, and I'm pretty sure there's a little dog park on the corner," Cr Pauling said.
"If the risk was as extreme as that panic we experienced in 2019 in relation to the camp itself, I just can't reconcile those two approaches. So, for me, it seemed extreme, but then nothing.
"The community has been dudded through inactivity for approximately seven years now, with no apparent timeline in sight. And I'm cranky about that."
The council's draft annual financial statements were unanimously endorsed after debt was reduced by 15 per cent, or $33.4 million, over the 2025-26 financial year.
After recording a $6.9 million loss in 2024-25, the council made an impressive revival by posting a $19.1 million operating surplus before capital revenue. No new loans were taken out during the one-year term.
Labor North Ward councillor Brian Adamthwaite said it was an "excellent report card."
The council's operating revenue, excluding capital revenue, increased by 13.4 per cent or about $44.3 million, from 2024-25.
This was due to increases in rates and annual charges ($13.5 million), user charges for higher development, waste and holiday park activity ($3 million), legal recoveries ($7.4 million), remediation provision ($1.9 million) and interest and investment income received on the council's investment portfolio ($4.5 million).
Capital grants and contributions decreased by $59.2 million (45 per cent) because of fewer dedications from new development.
Operating expenditure increased by $18.4 million (5.5 per cent) because of increases in employee benefits and on-costs ($8.3 million), which included a $3 million increase to the workers' compensation provision.
Councillors also voted unanimously to adopt the Disability Inclusion Action Plan for the next four years. Lake Macquarie has 15,388 people (7.27 per cent of the population) who require assistance with core activities.
The NSW average is 5.75 per cent, and Lake Macquarie's population of people with a disability is expected to grow as the community ages.
