Clare Bowditch has proposed a “swimming lake” instead, a man-made lake 100m across and accessible to all, surrounded by a grassy area where locals could have a barbecue or relax in the shade while others swam. 

Mrs Bowditch cited the swimming lake at Naracoorte in South Australia, which even has lanes for laps, as evidence of the potential success of the project. 

Mrs Bowditch suggested the lake be situated on the current showground site, which experiences minimal use.

“I've seen the plans for the proposed 50m pool and there are two major problems as it is proposed,” she said.

“One is the lack of green space and the other is that it is not ideal for non-swimmers, or children as it hasn't got a sloping edge. This means that younger children would have to go back into the heated area in our current aquatic centre.”

Griffith city council’s general manager Brett Stonestreet agreed that in principle the swimming lake was an excellent idea.

“It would be a more relaxed and recreational area where people could have a good time,” Mr Stonestreet said. “There would be more room and green space for people to have a picnic and relax in the shade.”

However, he believed it wouldn’t be a viable option.

“We would need to duplicate the costs of filtration, circulating water and supervision if we were to move the facility to another site,” he said.

“Funding is also a concern. We would not be eligible for such a grant until 2017.”

However, Mrs Bowditch believes taking a risk on a swimming lake would be worthwhile for the Griffith community. 

“People aren't supporting the current indoor pool at the moment because they don’t like it – why make the same mistake again when it could take another 20 years to correct,” she said. “I think it’s worth taking the risk.”

Mrs Bowditch urged people interested to like her Facebook page ‘Swimming Lake for Griffith’ to show their support for the idea before council requests funding for the 50m pool in March.