One of the new C&R Council's first cuts to community infrastructure is the recent announcement that funding for the planned new public pool in Avondale has been axed.City Vision Talk first reported the possibility of this occuring under a C&R Council back in September 2007.
The good news is that the resistance to this 1990s style programme of cutbacks is beginning. While people clearly want to see their rates well spent, the people of Auckland understand that good community investments such as public pools pay off in the long run in terms of greater community cohesion, and as an outlet for the energies of young people who might otherwise resort to less savoury activities.
The Avondale Community Board has made it's opposition clear, passing a motion calling for the pool project to be re-instated. City Vision Board Member Catherine Farmer is leading the charge, noting that:
"Part of Council's promise to the community which will undergo rapid growth and change as a result of more intensive housing, is to provide a swimming pool and other facilities to cater for the thousands of additional residents in Avondale"
Predictably, C&R members of the Avondale Board, Cr David Hay, and Board Member Lily Ho abstained from this motion (they could at least have been honest and straight out voted against it!).
City Vision will continue working with the community on this issue, and we will keep you up to date.
