"I see no reason we shouldn't liaise with the community on this occasion before allocating funds that are held in trust," said Cr Adam Roberts.

Cr Griffiths also voiced her support of calling a public meeting but the councillors resolved 7 to 2 to focus on refurbishing the existing 50m Olympic pool rather than using the money to build the 25m indoor heated pool.

The Olympic pool upgrade includes a heating system and a filtration system compliant with NSW Health guidelines.

Port Macquarie Hastings Council Mayor Peter Besseling said the council, in its decision, was being consistent with the 'publicly stated' position of a previous administrator, Gary Payne who stated in a press release from March 2010 that the proceeds from the sale of Timbertown would be 'most likely" used to upgrade the Wauchope pool.

"It is important to understand the [existing] pool itself is fundamental to the Wauchope community and requires urgent repair," said Cr Besseling.

As reported in the Wauchope Gazette, this 'urgent' repair has been a pressing issue since 1999.

"I can't believe it hasn't been fixed previously either," said Cr Besseling.

"I can only deal with what is in front of us and it has come to the point where we need to deal with it," said Cr Besseling in defending his decision.

"If we go through a community consultation and defer fixing the pool would the decision really change?"

"The longer this goes on, the greater the risk of a catastrophic outcome for this pool and I have no appetite for that," said Cr Besseling.

Despite the urgent need to repair the 50m Olympic pool, council were previously attempting to leverage off the money available to lobby for State and Federal funding, said Cr Besseling.

"12 months ago we were trying to do everything we could to get State or Federal funding for the pool project but we have had no support from them and it is clear it is going nowhere," he said.

The Gazette also reported in 2010 that the council was committing $4 million to the Wauchope Pool project.

Cr Besseling acknowledged that while he did not have any 'personal knowledge of the context surrounding the item, or the context of the Administrator's decision', he could comment on the council report.

"The report was worded in relation to Financial and Economic Implications that there was an intention from the Administrator to provide a funding allocation of $4 million to be included in the draft 2010/11 Capital Works Programme for Parks & Recreation to allow for the upgrade of Wauchope Swimming Pool as a priority, " said Cr Besseling,.

"Clearly this did not occur".

Cr Besseling committed to finding out if any funding was allocated and if so, how much was allocated and what happened to the funding.