Protests over YMCA's swimming pool contract win in Ballarat

Ballarat City Council's decision to award management of the city's Eureka Pool to the YMCA after 39 years of family management has caused public outrage.

Facebook pages, petitions and protests have abounded since the news broke last week that the McKenzie family's pool tenure was over.

The YMCA, which already manages the Ballarat Aquatic Centre, won the bid to manage four seasonal outdoor pools: Eureka, Wendouree, Black Hill and Buninyong with Ballarat newspaper The Courier reporting that "it was also the first time anyone else had tendered for the Eureka Pool in nearly four decades."

Ballarat YMCA Chief Executive Mal Healey subsequently told The Courier he was "pleasantly surprised" his organisation had won the operating contract, stating "there were a number of operators that were interested and participated in some of the pre-tender briefings, so we realised it was going to be a competitive process.

"We weren't surprised by (the community outcry), but we hope that once people have had an opportunity to use the Eureka Pool and see the programs that are on offer, and importantly, the way the facility is presented, they will realise the same standards are being maintained by us."

The community reaction has included over 7,000 people joining a support page on Facebook while an online petition objecting to the management change has attracted over 1,000 signatures.

Healey added that a unified YMCA management system for the four outdoor pools and the Ballarat Aquatic Centre, would allow for a joint-membership program, which was a major part of its tender submission.

The Courier went to report that the council abided by Victorian Government guidelines in awarding the contract, based on a range of, primarily financial, factors.

Explaining the decision, Councillor Ben Taylor said the Council's special contracts committee hands were tied by the tender process, which set out clear guidelines as to how tenders should be evaluated.

Councillor Taylor told The Courier "if we'd done it any other way, and manipulated the tender process, the community would have been calling us corrupt."

Ballarat's outdoor pool attendances dipped by 25% last season, which the Council attribute to the cooler summer conditions. Eureka had by far the highest patronage, with 47,310, followed by Black Hill with 6,098, Buninyong with 4,483 and Wendouree with just 3,843.

Declining attendances at another pool in Brown Hill nearly led to its closure in 2005 but a groundswell of community support kept its gate open and it is now independently run by the Brown Hill Progress Association.

8th October 2010 - BALLARAT AQUATIC CENTRE TO REOPEN BUT CLUBS WANT 50 METRE POOL

27th July 2010 - $50 MILLION UPGRADE FOR BALLARAT’S EUREKA STADIUM

30th September 2009 - CONTRACT MANAGEMENT NOT TO BLAME FOR COACHING DECLINE