Geocon owes Canberrans an answer on Phillip pool site plans

Of course, one of the very best places to do that in Canberra has always been the Phillip pool.

We can but dream.

Fans of the pool are now looking down the barrel of the third consecutive summer without it.

For the first two years we had all kinds of excuses from the former owner and the pool manager, from lack of staff to rain preventing the repainting of the 50-metre pool.

At times, the excuses seemed just plain ridiculous, such as pool patrons supposedly being upset they could be seen by the residents of surrounding apartments (pull the other one).

If anything, I liked to float on my back in the middle pool and look skywards up towards them, not really looking at the apartments but meditating and enjoying the underwater silence. Did the apartment owners get poopy about that?

And it's now seven months since developer Geocon bought the lease for the site which includes the accompanying ice skating rink.

At the time of the sale, Geocon told local media it intended to keep operating the centre and was "doing rectification works".

Regular check-ins with Geocon over the last seven months have yielded no further information.

The latest response? "We are currently doing rectification works."

Labor MLA for Murrumbidgee Dr Marisa Paterson has been something of a lone voice in the Legislative Assembly trying to get some assurances about the future of the Phillip pool.

Earlier this year, she consulted with the community and received 127 responses - all strongly in favour of a 50m pool being maintained with a toddler's pool. There was an even split on whether that should be an indoor or outdoor pool.

For me, the Phillip pool's value was in it being outside, where you could feel the sun's rays on your back as you swam laps or dangled your legs in the water. It was in finding shade under a tree and laying out on the grass to read a book or chat.

It wasn't about cacophonous, temperature-controlled indoor pools that had fountains of water sprouting here or there. It was peaceful. And there is value in finding those kinds of spaces in a rapidly growing city.

"I love the feeling of sitting outside on a summer's day near a pool, under the trees with a cool breeze," wrote one of the respondents to Dr Paterson's survey.

So true.

Dr Paterson released the results of the Phillip pool consultation in April. At the time, she hoped to share the findings with Geocon. She's still waiting.

The developer has yet to find time to schedule a meeting with her.

The Canberra community has, in general, been taken for granted by Geocon.

Dr Paterson said her survey results found respondents wanted Geocon to work collaboratively with the community.

But, instead, there's been radio silence from the developer.

"Respondents took the opportunity to voice their concerns over a lack of communication and consultation between developer giant Geocon and the community," Dr Paterson wrote back in April.

"The community has called on Geocon to work collaboratively with the community and ACT government under the new proposed planning system reforms to continue to provide an open and accessible community asset."

Why is this so hard?

Is Geocon simply land-banking the Phillip site until the new ice rink opens in Tuggeranong?

Is this all just a charade until Geocon gets the green light to bulldoze the pool and more apartments go up in its place?

Sports Minister Yvette Berry, meanwhile, seems to suggest "nothing to see here".

"The ACT government understands the current owner of the Phillip Pool (Geocon) is making the necessary repairs in order to reopen the pool for the summer season," Minister Berry said.

"I am sure Canberrans will be excited to get back into swimming at Phillip Pool when the weather heats up."

It'd be nice to know what is actually happening, either way. Stop treating Canberra citizens like muppets.