Pool plans on hold

At a council meeting last Tuesday night, councillors were set to consider a motion from Councillor Elizabeth Re, calling for a report on the cost-benefit analysis of the Hamersley Golf Course location versus the Stirling train station.

The area referred to as Stirling train station is the Hertha Road tip site, directly behind the City of Stirling offices and across the road from the Stirling train station.

The Stirling Times understands the site is included within the Stirling Alliance’s Stirling City Centre plan and has been identified for a mixture of possible uses.

However, before the motion could be debated, Coastal ward councillor Jason Robbins moved a procedural motion to defer it to a meeting in November. It was accepted.

Speaking after the meeting, Cr Robbins said the reasoning behind his motion was solely related to the local government amalgamations, announced a week earlier.

‘With the local government boundaries changing, we don’t have the finalisation of that,’ he said.

‘I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the community to be going ahead with a project of this magnitude at the moment, with all this uncertainty.

‘This gives us an opportunity to find out how things are going to sit, then we can have a look at it with some certainty.’

Pool advocate Lynley Papineau said she could understand the reasoning behind the decision, however she described Cr Re’s motion as ludicrous.

‘I understand they want to get some clarity and don’t want to incur additional costs until they have that,’ she said.

‘At the same time though, they could be doing work in the background.

‘The site has been identified for two years, the tip site will need substantial remediation and incur extra costs.’

See editorial, page 8