By Jenel Hunt
The Warwick and District Swimming Club has pleaded with the Southern Downs Regional Council to help it sidestep the YMCA and deal directly with the council for the club’s use of the swimming pool at the Warwick Indoor Recreation and Aquatic Centre (WIRAC).
For the second time this year, club president Mick Murdoch has presented the club’s views to council with a request that the club get a fair go and that council step up to manage the situation.
“Since our last presentation in April, we’ve actually gone backwards, which is extremely disappointing. Anything we bring up has been automatically rejected or pushed back,” he said, referring to the YMCA’s management of the council-owned site.
He said the club hired five or six lanes one night a week for the swimming club activities but on top of the hiring fees, a per head entry fee into the pool was charged.
“Our hours have been reduced and we get charged more than other pools in the region charge for swimming club activities. We’d also like to have the whole pool for that time. We have 65 kids there at that time and there are only ever a couple of other people at the pool, so we wouldn’t be putting many people out,” Mr Murdoch said.
“We received an email from the Y a couple of days ago that states, in part, over the past two years we’ve been charged $101 for the hire of five lanes with an additional fee applied for the extra lane. The Y has said they’ve done a recalculation and that they believe we should be now be hiring the six lanes – we use one more because of the restricted time we’re allowed – for $342 but because they’re nice people we can have it for $160.
“It’s ridiculous. They [the Y] are charging what they want because they have a monopoly in Warwick. It’s supposed to go through council and be on the council schedule of fees. We’d prefer to do it direct with council and run it [swim night] ourselves.
“We’d like to discuss some kind of council intervention so we don’t have to do this fight every year. It’s four years in a row we’ve had this fight and this latest escalation is ridiculous.
“Enough’s enough. This has to change. Public interest isn’t being looked after.
“Please treat us like Killarney or Allora where they get the whole pool for a third of the price that we pay.
“I’m looking for equality. Everyone in the region should be treated the same. If there’s a three-year or five-year agreement, with the council as the mediator, that would benefit everyone.”
Mr Murdoch said the club’s history with the site also had to be taken into consideration.
“Let’s not forget we gave up our club rooms, which used to give us an income. We gave up those club rooms for WIRAC to be built and we were supposed to be given space in the centre at no charge.
“We can’t get grants because we can’t store the gear. We’ve just missed out on a $250,000 grant because we don’t have a memorandum of understanding. We don’t have clubrooms and anything we try to store at the Y goes out into the rain.
“We are the original tenants there. What’s happening is not fair. The tender document that went out was non-exclusive. We’ve had a licence before and we’re asking for that again.”
He was also critical of the master plan for the complex.
“Back in the old days there was a special project, a master plan, in train. It went to tender and we were told we couldn’t do anything because the master plan was happening. Then we were told it was too late to do anything.
“We’ve done submissions like we’ve been told to but nothing ever comes of it.”
Director of corporate and community services Leon Love said there were no funds to progress the master plan at this stage. He said there had been an agreement by the Y and the club and the council to put a shed in the western corner.
Mr Murdoch said there were further discussions about using a concrete pad at the front of the complex which had originally been agreed to, but Mr Love said that anything in the green space would be subject to the master plan.
Mayor Cr Vic Pennisi said he had never seen the master plan but knew there had been a number of discussions.
“What I’m hearing from you is that you need a formal decision on the shed, some outcomes in times and costs for the hire, whether or not it’s through a non-exclusive licence and some sort of tenure. I thought the downstairs room was going to be handed to you guys, because there were some wheelchair access issues with the upstairs room.”
Deputy mayor Ross Bartley said he had gone back to look at the issue of the room the club was supposed to get in 1998. He recalled that honour boards had hung in the club rooms and that many events had been held there.
“I’d like to see some way forward in offering the club what it had originally, with its history being presented,” he said.
Cr Gow said he would encourage a face-to-face meeting of all groups.
“I think there’s a one size fits all. We’re dealing with the same lessee [Stanthorpe is now run by the YMCA] and the same council. From what you describe, the negotiations are different. There is a process. I would suggest council officers would need to come to the table because it’s in the fees and charges. From what I can see, there is a way forward and if it was more formalised, that would benefit all [swimming] clubs … but to achieve that, everyone needs to be at the table and discussing the same thing at the same time.”
