The closed Kogarah War Memorial Pool at Carss Park has become a venue for TikTokers and YouTubers to film a music video, Georges River Council has been told.
The news was revealed at this week's meeting of Georges River Council during a rescission motion debating the demolition of the Carss Park pool.
Last month, Mayor Kevin Greene lost a motion calling for Georges River Council to immediately demolish the Kogarah War Memorial Pool to eliminate the current risks to the community, the environment and the council.
The South Sydney Planning Panel granted development consent on May 31, 2121, to demolish the pool.
The council has also received legal advice from Queen's Counsel and the council's insurer about the high risk to community safety and possible liability.
But the mayor's motion was defeated by 8:7 votes.
Councillor Sam Elmir said he lodged the rescission motion to bring the matter back for debate at this week's council meeting to eliminate the threat posed to the community from the current building and pool structure remaining at the site.
Cr Elmir said he was concerned about a music video posted after young adults allegedly conducted a music video at the pool.
Speaking in support of Cr Elmir, Cr Sandy Grekas said the pool site has been broken into, graffitied and an entire music video was filmed there.
"The notion that this site is perfectly safe and we have nothing to worry about in terms of liability is incorrect. We are all at risk - our homes, our businesses," she said.
Cr Kathryn Landsberry speaking against the recession motion, said she hadn't heard about TikTokers and YouTubers using the pool.
"This is the first I've heard about it," she said.
Mayor Kevin Greene said the information was available to councillors on the council portal.
Cr Landsberry said," I didn't know about it. I walk past that site every single day and at different times of the day, and I have never seen any evidence of anything, so it comes as quite a surprise to me."
Residents had reiterated they want to rebuild the pool at the existing site, she said.
"We all know that it needs to be remediated, but we all fear that once it is gone, it's gone," Cr Landsberry said.
"We need to respect the swimming community. Once we demolish the pool and return it to open space, nothing will happen there. So let's move ahead with the feasibility study for Carss Park and provide the community with some certainty and do what they have asked to do a thousand times."
Cr Tegg urged for demolition,
"The pool building is now covered in a significant amount of graffiti, and someone has broken into it and spent what looks like half a day shooting a music video in a place that's riddled in asbestos," he said.
"If anybody was exposed to asbestos there, our liability will expand to such a time as they realised they have an ill-effect from asbestos they have been exposed to.
"We have created what effectively is a honeypot for kids who want to misbehave, and we are doing so at the risk of our houses and businesses and the risk of ratepayers' money.
"There is no benefit to our community by keeping this defunct pool in place."
General Manager Gail Connolly said council staff are constantly securing the site.
"We continually stay in touch with the insurers to update the risk assessment," she said.
"Fencing on the site, CCTV, signage and patrols, reporting to the police - all those matters are done in accordance with the latest advice from the insurers.
"Staff are constantly moving the fence and readjusting it daily.
"However, members of the community keep moving the fence to provide unauthorised access to the site, which we are aware of through the CCTV cameras.
"We are really at the point now where we have to proceed with the three-metre-high hoarding that is part of the (demolition) DA approval.
" A more secure hoarding needs to be put around the site immediately. We are taking quotes on that hoarding and we can secure the site more permanently to prevent penetration of the site every weekend as is currently occurring."
Cr Elmir urged councillors to vote for the demolition.
"We are not eliminating any risk to the community by continuing to have that site as it is," he said.
However, the rescission motion was lost by 8:7 votes.
