Aquatic report in pipeline

By JESSE GRAHAM

A STUDY on a multi-million dollar aquatics centre in the valley has yet to surface, despite expectations it would go before council four months ago.
A spokesperson for the Yarra Ranges Council told the Mail that a report on the council’s feasibility study for a new aquatics centre would go before council at the end of the month, or in early September.
The report has been expected to surface at a council meeting for months, after Yarra Ranges mayor Fiona McAllister said in February it was expected to be finished within two months.
In March the council’s spokesperson said the study was the focus of “significant work”, exploring options for a new local facility.
The feasibility study was also coinciding with a review of the Yarra Ranges Aquatic Strategy, which maps out the future of the shire’s pools.
In February Cr McAllister said the feasibility study had been worked on for the last 18 months, and that a potential new facility would cost millions of dollars.
“We’re not talking two or three million – it’s going to be a lot of money,” she said.
When the Mail asked the council why the report had not appeared earlier in the year, as pledged by Cr McAllister, it received no response.