Bid for Denmark swimming pool has plug pulled as councillors vote against motion citing higher ratepayer costs

Despite determined and longstanding community advocacy, the Shire of Denmark council has voted not to proceed with plans for an indoor pool in the town. At a special meeting on Tuesday, the council ultimately decided against constructing the complex, citing high costs to ratepayers. Shire staff estimated rates would have to be increased by 10 per cent from 2030 — the pool’s forecasted opening year — to fund the pool, which they expected to cost $16.8 million. Representing a $240 increase per year to the average Denmark ratepayer, the rise would make the town one of the most expensive local governments in the State. Officers said the standard population threshold for an indoor aquatic facility was 10,000 residents, which Denmark was not expected to reach until 2045. They recommended the council not proceed with the proposal until the shire’s projected population, within a 10-year timeframe, reached that figure. Shire president Kingsley Gibson moved to hold a poll for Denmark ratepayers, saying getting a ‘yes’ vote from the community would be an “emphatic” answer, given they now knew how much the construction of a pool would cost them. He acknowledged the decision would remain a complicated one for the council, but supported giving the community their say during the election. “It has to be the first step, and I think we should take it,” he said. Several councillors spoke against the motion, including Cr Aaron Wiggins, who argued a single poll question did not give the community enough insight into the complicated factors that went into making a major financial decision like building a pool. He said while he understood it was “expensive and hard” for residents to travel the 45 minutes to the closest pool in Albany, councillors should consider residents who were already in a precarious financial position. “What about our ratepayers for whom it is hard and expensive just to pay their rates,” he said. The motion to hold a poll was lost, with all councillors except Cr Gibson, Cr Jan Lewis, and Cr Clare Campbell voting against. The vote came after community members again voiced their support for the pool proposal during public question time, lauding the benefits of a pool in Denmark, particularly for the town’s youth, elderly and those needing hydrotherapy. The audience in the council chambers cleared out quickly, with several residents voicing their disappointment loudly and angrily as they left the room. Following the loss of Cr Gibson’s poll motion, all councillors present spoke on the motion to approve the officer’s recommendation not to proceed with the plans, with many arguing the fiscal irresponsibility of allowing the proposal to go ahead. Cr Wiggins re-emphasised his point that the shire could not afford a pool, and community consultation should be re-entered into at a time when a larger population would allow the shire to reconsider the proposal. An identical vote resulted.