Council Fails Vulnerable Communities With Lack of Consultation

11 May 2021

Each week Keri East travels 220km from the Bellarine to Waurn Ponds so her daughter can access hydrotherapy.

Each week Keri East travels 220km from the Bellarine to Waurn Ponds so her daughter can access hydrotherapy.

Keris 21-year-old daughter has a condition shared by only 150 others in the world. For her, hydrotherapy is essential.

So, when the Council announced they would build a new pool on the North Bellarine, she was hopeful that weekly 220km trip would be cut short in the near future.

However, those hopes were dashed when the Council announced there were no plans to include a hydrotherapy pool or warm water facilities in its stage one build.

Its ridiculous, she said. It is really important, given how many people there are on the Bellarine with disability, we think about the hydrotherapy pool as well.

She would get no use of the outdoor pool. My daughter if she just goes into a regular pool at Waurn Ponds, she gets out with blue limbs and no circulation.

Corangamite MP Libby Coker also slammed the council for failing to do consultation with the community.

If they had undertaken a wide consultation with community members, they would have identified Keri, and many others just like her, who can articulate just how ridiculous the current plans are, she said.

Suggesting an outdoor pool is adequate facility for people with disability is frankly absurd.

Its time the Council listened to the will of the community and committed to taking this project seriously.