Fence proposal for pools

The anti-climbing fence is designed to stretch along the centre's High Street car park, the boundary of the East Launceston Bowls Club, and along the border of Welman and York streets.

An application for the works was submitted last month by Launceston City Council architectural services manager Matthew Skirving on behalf of general manager Robert Dobryznski.

Three representations were received against the development, including concerns regarding heritage assessments, conflict of interest, appearance of the fence, the quality and validity of the application and the cost of the construction.

In response to the cost, Launceston City Council consultant planner Ashley Brook said the issue was "not a relevant matter for the planning authority".

Mr Brook said concerns about the removal of a Rotary Club turkey oak tree would be addressed by working to identify a new location for replanting.

In the application, Mr Skirving said the fence was being built to address security concerns at the facility.

"The existing fence construction does not provide adequate site security, and provides little deterrent to individuals attempting to access the facility outside normal operating hours," he said.

"Due to the high number of unauthorised entries over the summer and school holiday periods, the facility currently engages a security contractor to patrol the external pools area, outside of normal operating hours.

"Maintaining this supervision is not an operationally sustainable undertaking, due to the high ongoing cost."

The expanded grassed area around the pool will be landscaped for public amenity.

A monitoring wire will be installed on top of the fence to provide intrusion alarms to a third-party monitoring service.

Launceston aldermen will discuss the proposal during the meeting, to be held from 1pm at Launceston Town Hall.