TWO of Wyndham newest councillors have labelled a $52 million leisure and events centre redevelopment a waste of ratepayers’ money.
Intaj Khan and Gautam Gupta called on the council to recost the project before contracts were awarded later this month.
The pair raised their concerns at the council’s February 25 meeting, during which it was announced the Derrimut Road centre would close on April 18 to allow the redevelopment to begin.
The council has been planning for the redevelopment since its 2011 aquatic strategy revealed the municipality had outgrown the existing centre. The project will increase capacity and improve events, pool and gym spaces. The council has already received close to $5 million in external funding and is working to secure another $10.8 million from state and federal governments to allow it to proceed with plans to relocate the plaza library to the new centre.
Cr Gupta said the council could spend $52 million on more important projects and questioned whether ratepayers actually knew how much the redevelopment would cost.
“We have four council [controlled] roads that need fixing. Look at fixing them as a priority. There are more community and social projects which money could be spent on.”
Cr Khan believed the project’s cost could be reduced.
Cr Glenn Goodfellow hit back at that suggestion, saying the redevelopment was urgently needed.
He said it had gone through a long planning process, with the council communicating its plans with residents along the way.
