At a Special meeting of Mareeba Shire Council on Wednesday, 30 November 2022, it was resolved not to award the tender for the lease and operation of the Shire’s aquatic facilities and the Dimbulah caravan park.
“Council received two responses to the tender for the pools and Dimbulah Caravan Park and, unfortunately, neither of the respondents could be appointed,” Mayor Angela Toppin explains.
One of the respondents was H20 Sport and Leisure, the current operator.
“Unfortunately, the tender was not affordable to ratepayers, so Council must now identify an alternative option.”
The current arrangement with H20 will come to an end on 22 December 2022.
Mareeba Shire Mayor Angela Toppin explains, “H20 have delivered a high-quality pool service across the Shire since August 2021, however, we have been informed that this contract will end in December 2022.”
Mareeba Shire Council is making arrangements to ensure that the Shire’s swimming pools continue to operate in coming months and that the service is affordable to ratepayers, in the long-term.
“As Mayor, I would like to reassure residents that the pools will not close. Council will do all that is necessary to continue to operate the pools.”
“The Shire’s swimming pools provide very important social and recreational opportunities and deliver significant community benefit. Many residents are also employed as lifeguards or staff at the pools.”
“As a Council, we must ensure that the outcome is in the best interest of the ratepayers and residents of the Mareeba Shire,” Mayor Toppin said.
“The swimming pools are very important community facilities which we will continue to manage in a financially responsible manner.”