Georges River Council will ask that proposed upgrade works be paused for further consultation with community swim groups. Picture by Jim Gainsford.

A request for Georges River Council to take control of the Peakhurst West Public School Pool was voted down by councillors this week.

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Located within Peakhurst West Public School, the pool reopened last November following a $1.5 million upgrade by the NSW Department of Education and the state government to improve the safety and accessibility.

The pool was built in 1961 with funds raised by community swim clubs. It is used by students at Peakhurst West Public School, other local schools, community swim clubs and learn-to-swim providers.

Local company, FitXP, well-known for delivering sports programs in schools, has been appointed to run and maintain the pool. Further upgrade works will include reducing the depth of the 25-metre pool from two-metres to 1.4-metres, increasing the depth of the infants pool, tiling and waterproofing of both pools and upgrading of change rooms.

Cr Nancy Liu submitted a notice of motion at the May 25 council meeting requesting that the proposed upgrade works be paused for further consultation and clarification, noting that once the proposed works commence the original functionality of the pool may be permanently affected.

She also sought a review of the pool to ensure it remains accessible, appropriate and fit for long-term community use.

"If the 25-metre pool is decreased from two-metres to 1.4-metres it will seriously impact the usage of this pool. It was designed by the community as a competition standard pool. Two-metres is a national standard. I don't know why it's going to be changed to 1.4-metres. This is an urgent call for the council to write to the state government authorities that this project be paused for community consultation and clarification of all the concerns before the project is commenced."

She was supported by Cr Natalie Mort who said the concerns being raised by the community around affordability, reduced access and the proposed reduction in the pool's depth deserved to be heard and properly considered.

"Adequate depth is essential for learn-to-swim progression squad training and further competition pathways," Cr Mort said.

Cr Elaina Anzellotti submitted an amendment that the council write to the NSW government formally proposing that Georges River Council assume full care and management of the pool to return it to a local government-run model.

"This amendment is actually a solution to the problem," Cr Anzellotti said, adding that the debate over the pool had been deliberately weaponised to divide the community,

"Accusations of privatising the pool are being used to divide the community and for political point-scoring," she said.

"When the operator took over, the community raised valid concerns regarding the depth, fee increases, booking times and privatising of the pool. The privatisation had been spun out to the community and it is not true.

"The Deputy Premier Prue Car has stated on record that the pool has never been privatised and will never be under the current government.

"I cannot understand why anyone would want to scare the wonderful volunteers and community groups who use the pool.

"A motion that council assume the care and control of the pool should have been brought forward years ago. Instead it has been held back to be used as a political football.

"We have the local resources, expertise and the community always at heart. We are choosing a standard solution to keep Pesthurst West pool in community hands as a genuine community asset," she said

Cr Kathryn Landsberry spoke against Cr Anzellotti's amendment.

"I admire the sentiment of wanting to bring it in-house and for the council to run it but the pools we do have in the LGA are operated by organisations like BlueFit," Cr Landsberry said.

"We don't run pools ourselves. Much as it is my preferred model, I can't support this.

"It's not a council asset so why would council be operating it?

"This is a Department of Education asset so it is up to them to manage it. It strikes me as really odd that they would be reducing the depth of the pool. I'd love to have the council operate all of our pools but the council would have to do the same thing and engage a private operator to run it because we don't have the inhouse expertise to operate the pool.

"The purpose of Cr Liu's motion is advocating on behalf of the community groups that currently use it. It's not a council asset so it's entirely inappropriate for the council to be running it."

Cr Anzellotti's amendment was put to the vote and lost by nine votes to four.

Cr Lui's original motion was put forward and supported by nine votes to four.