Drowning in spin

There are many gullible people in Bridgetown, so you really can't blame the Shire for thinking it can simply cover up its blunders with a sprinkle of bulldust here and there.

However,  a growing number of people are looking at the desolate hole in the ground where the swimming pool used to be and wondering why it was removed nearly a year ago when there is still no progress on the new one.

Somebody asked this question on a local facebook page and Cr Peter Quinby quickly jumped in to retort; "have you ever tried to build a pool in winter?"  It seems he doesn't understand the issue. Construction was supposed to commence at the end of last winter. If this new pool cannot be built over the coming winter, it will have to be built next spring and summer, meaning the community will be without a pool in summer for two years running.

I'm simply seeking some honesty and accountability from councillors and staff.

If the tender process was botched, say so and take appropriate action against those responsible.

Instead, we get more spin and obfuscation in the Council's "Insight" magazine, in an article which revealed the design of the new pool has still not been finalised.


"The decision to excavate the site at the conclusion of the 2013-14 swimming season has proven to be of benefit, allowing the summer and autumn of 2015 to be clear for the construction of the new facility," Insight says. 

Huh? Summer is almost over and there has been no construction work whatsoever.

It is interesting that the Insight article did not repeat earlier promises that the new pool would be ready for next summer.

Bridgetown families just want a place to swim on a hot day

This hole in the ground is what remains of the much-loved 50m pool which served us very well up to last summer.  It was demolished last year because, they said, work had to begin on the new 25m pool to replace it.

Well, here we are sweltering through the final month of a very hot, dry summer and there doesn't seem to be much work done on this new pool.

If, as the Council assures us, the new pool can still be built in time for next summer, why the hell didn't they leave the old one in place (at least for the school holidays) until someone was ready to start work on the new one??

This vacant site is an affront to families who are crying out for somewhere to cool off on a hot day. Its a slap in the face for those who must drive two or three times a week to Manjimup to take their kids to swimming training.

It is also a monument to the mismanagement which has become the hallmark of our Shire Council.

For some inexplicable reason, those in control seem to hate old Bridgetown and can't wait to renovate or replace every aspect of the town until it looks like a suburb of Perth.