FREE entry to Newcastle's five pools was raised in the eleventh hour as the council went to vote on a 20-year strategy to maintain and renew them on Tuesday.
Liberal councillor Katrina Wark pushed for an investigation into making the pools free, arguing city residents have gratuitous access to the ocean baths.
"I would like to suggest that Newcastle City Council (CN) looks at making all the inland pools free entry, as Newcastle City Council has two concrete baths that are owned and maintained for free," she said.
"The libraries, art gallery and ocean baths are free entry, this would provide the western suburbs of Newcastle the opportunity of having fair and equitable access and to be treated equally regarding council-owned pools."
Cr Wark also raised concerns with the memorial status of three of the pools and the impact that might have on the strategy.
Less than an hour earlier, the entire council voted unanimously to approve fees and charges for the year, including the cost of entry to Lambton, Wallsend, Mayfield, Stockton and Beresfield pools.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes pointed out the document had been in progress for the last 12 months, and asked Cr Wark to put forward the investigation into free entry as a memo instead of a hard and fast action item.
"It's not impossible to do this, we can definitely potentially do this, but we've gone through a whole process adopting a strategy," she said.
"It's hijacking a huge body of work.
"We are going through a process of a 20-year strategy that actually protects these assets for the first time."
The council will respond to Cr Wark's questions about free entry in a memo.
Cr Nelmes said that in the past, successive councils have "continually tried to close pools" and failed to invest in them.
"This strategy now protects them for 20 years, so forever, there is not going to be ongoing debates, new councils can't come along and try and close pools or say they might be closed in five years," she said.
"This puts all of that to bed.
"No other council has ever been able to deal with the issue of their pools in a long-term, strategic fashion."
However, Lake Macquarie City Council approved a 20-year plan to improve its pools at the end of April.
CN will put aside $1 million into a future fund each year to help address any long-term issues with the city's pools.
As part of putting the strategy into motion, CN will ask the state government to set up a dedicated Pool Infrastructure Fund available across the state - without division between urban and regional, rural or remote councils.
It also noted Newcastle's 'inconsistent classification' when it comes to state grant programs and will ask local MPs and Minister for the Hunter Tim Crakanthorp to address the city's exclusion from certain grant programs to help fund the pool strategy.
Cr Margaret Wood said the kind of costs the council is looking at in 20 years to replace elements like pool shells are "well beyond" the capacity of local government.
"There needs to be greater commitment by the NSW government to providing significant funding to assist local government," she said.
"This is the kind of funding that's required, it's not $5 million or dollar-for-dollar matching arrangements, it is significant, it's tens of millions of dollars."
Newcastle's strategy covers the council's five inland pools and outlines what's required to maintain and renew them while meeting the changing needs of the community.
Lambton is pegged to be the jewel in the crown, unless the state government commits to building an aquatic facility at the Hunter Sports and Entertainment Precinct, Hunter Park, at Broadmeadow.
Under the plan, a $6 million indoor heated multi-purpose pool with a platform lift could be installed at Lambton and the toddlers pool replaced with a leisure and water play area with zones for different ages.
A new platform lift could also be installed at the existing 50m pool along with a new entry foyer, cafe, lounge, and redeveloped change rooms with disability access.
Cr Peta Winney-Baartz said she was proud to stand behind the strategy.
"Our five public swimming pools attract over 320,000 visitors each year, and those centres are strongly supported and enjoyed by the community," she said.
"Whether those swimmers are there purely for recreation or social purposes, or there to swim laps, have lessons or compete, these facilities require a strategic plan to ensure that we are able to continue to meet those needs.
"This is an inherently solid plan that deals with a decade's long inherited backlog that we now have in terms of infrastructure upgrades required at these centres."
The strategy was approved.
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