The Bushy Park War Memorial Swimming Pool has served our community for generations. The council's backflip must not stand. Sign the petition and demand a real solution.
The Bushy Park War Memorial Swimming Pool is more than infrastructure. For the families, kids, farm workers, and elderly residents of the upper Derwent Valley, it is the only major recreational asset within reach. The nearest alternative is a 20-minute drive to New Norfolk — effectively inaccessible for those without reliable transport.
In October 2025, councillors voted unanimously to restore the pool and target a Summer 2026 reopening. Less than a year later, in May 2026, they reversed that decision — claiming compliance issues that proper due diligence should have identified before the original promise was made.
Pool closes due to Styx River Bridge construction. Community reassured it is temporary.
Community mobilises. Petition reaches 900+ signatures. Council workshops held at Glenora District School.
Derwent Valley Council votes unanimously to restore the pool. Mayor speaks with Deputy Premier Guy Barnett about State funding. RSL Tasmania formally backs restoration.
Council backflip. Administration declares there is "no way forward." Council issues an apology — admitting earlier promises were made "without having sought professional advice." Community responds with fury.
"Council wishes to unreservedly apologise for past public statements that our officers made guaranteeing that the pool would reopen. Those statements were made without having sought professional advice, nor a full understanding of the associated issues." — Derwent Valley Council statement, May 2026
An apology is not a pool. The compliance issues cited — car parking, wastewater, EPA discharge permit — are engineering and planning problems, not a death sentence. They are solvable with the will and the funding to solve them. We are demanding both.
This decision wasn't made in the absence of data. It was made in the absence of community voice. Here's what the council's own figures tell us.
Reported background: New Norfolk News, Tasmanian Country, and the Australian War Memorial Places of Pride register. Campaign organisers should separately attach the lease record and current petition tally.
Bushy Park is the hop-growing capital of the Southern Hemisphere. The land, the water, and the workforce of this valley have made fortunes for the hop industry. The Shoebridge family — whose legacy is embedded in this very site — understood the obligation that prosperity carries to the community that sustains it.
That tradition of reciprocity has not died. But it must be demanded.
We are calling on Hop Products Australia and the major hop-growing operations of the upper Derwent Valley to commit a meaningful contribution to pool restoration and ongoing operational support. The community gave this valley its character. It's time industry gave something back.
We are not asking for the impossible. We are asking for leadership, creativity, and a genuine commitment to rural community infrastructure. Here is our platform:
The compliance issues must be assessed by an independent engineer — not the same administration that made promises without advice. Solutions exist. Find them.
The Mayor has already spoken with Deputy Premier Guy Barnett. That conversation must be formalised into a grant application. $150,000 is not beyond the State's capacity to support a war memorial recreational asset.
A formal approach to Hop Products Australia and major growers for a named restoration contribution and ongoing operational co-sponsorship.
The community is owed a full, publicly accessible breakdown of all compliance costs, estimated solutions, and funding gaps — before any final decision is made.
If the land was donated for community benefit, that intent is legally and morally binding. The council must act in accordance with the spirit of the original gift.
The council must not proceed with alternative site uses — splash pads, picnic areas — without a formal community consultation and vote on whether residents accept the pool's permanent closure.
Add your name and your voice. Submitting this form opens a pre-filled email to the campaign team so your signature can be recorded and included in the petition presented to council and elected representatives.
Collected signatures will be presented to Derwent Valley Council at a public meeting, with copies forwarded to State and Federal representatives for the Derwent Valley.
Please send the email that just opened so the campaign team can record your signature. Then share this page so others can add their voice.