With the local government elections just over two weeks away the Greens' candidate for Ward 3 is committed to making Dapto pool free to enter if elected to Wollongong City Council.
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We have a fast growing suburb without easy access to a beach, and the Dapto Pool is one of only three pools with an entry fee
- Greens' Ward 3 candidate Jess Whittaker
Jess Whittaker said she made it one of her policies because she felt there was an issue of inequity.
"We have a fast growing suburb without easy access to a beach, and the Dapto pool is one of only three pools with an entry fee," she said.
"I've always thought it was unfair. Free entry means access for everyone. If most of the pools in Wollongong are free, Dapto should be too."
Ms Whittaker said the argument that the council needed to charge to pay power costs was weak.
"We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars maintaining the intake pipes at Port Kembla, but no fee has been imposed there," she said.
"If power costs are an issue, instead of heating with dirty fossil fuels we need to invest in solar to bring this cost down. If elected to council I will pitch this in the first budget."
"In the long term I would absolutely support a regional aquatic centre to be built in Dapto. But let's start with free entry to the existing pool, because that's something that should happen right now."
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