Port Fairy's beleaguered community swimming pool is at a defining crossroad.
This week it was announced the pool would have to shut due to the cessation of its public liability insurance, but an eleventh hour reprieve has seen the doors to Belfast Aquatics open for another month.
But then what?
Will its passionate and hardworking community committee be able to secure ongoing insurance cover? Or will Moyne Shire, which owns the land it sits on, have to take it over? Are there any other options?
There is no doubt the pool and its facilities have been an asset to the Port Fairy and district community.
Thousands of children have learnt the life-long and essential skill of how to swim and it has become a community hub for people of all ages to keep fit and healthy.
But is it for the benefit of all shire ratepayers the council pays for the Port Fairy asset?
Should people in Peterborough, Mortlake, Koroit or Caramut be financing the pool?
It already takes more than $100,000 a year from the council coffers.
When the idea for a community pool was mooted way back in the early 2000s it was met with uncertainty from the council.
It cited statistics at the time showing communities with fewer than 30,000 people couldn't support the kind of facility proposed. The council pitched in $400,000 to help fund the build of the pool, with the community raising more. That money came with a caveat there would be no further funding from the shire.
The council then provided $100,000 when the centre opened in 2007, and a $100,000 interest-free loan. Two years after opening the pool was losing funds and the council stepped in, giving $150,000 per year to subsidise the centre's annual losses. The centre continues to receive funding from the council, getting $200,000 in the past financial year. To date, the shire has sunk more than $1.6m into the pool.
In these times of economic hardship and rate capping, some Port Fairy councillors have said everything needs to be done to save the pool. But Cr Jim Doukas, while acknowledging the aim has to be to keep it open, says "you can't throw good money after bad". If a decision comes to councillors they will be put between a rock and a hard place. They will have to listen to all ratepayers' views, not just those who reside where the pool is located.
There is no denying the pool is a wonderful Port Fairy asset but the shire extends beyond Port Fairy.
