The Aquatic Centre and the Victoria Park redevelopment are exciting and visionary and will do wonders for two tired-looking facilities.

They’ve been a long time coming, but – of course – money is always the challenge.

As revealed in today’s story, the pool project is $18.5 million short of the mark. At this stage we can do some, but not all. The rest will depend on grant funding and, possibly, low-interest loans.

It’s true there are plenty of avenues to pursue and better to get in now with a master plan to bolster our chances of success.

Likewise, the Victoria Park precinct: some $50,000 was allocated in the 2016/17 budget for the masterplan and investigations, but the final cost of the work is not yet known.

These will be conversations for the new council.

We’d like them to have another one.

Cr Margaret O’Neill made a salient point at Tuesday’s meeting. Asked how much community consultation had gone into the Victoria Park plan, general manager Warwick Bennett replied that the working party had been involved.

“Well, hey, the working party is not the community,” she shot back.

Touche. Too often the council is taking this restricted involvement as widespread public input. The $10 million stadium idea is a case in point.

The working parties are also discussing projects behind closed doors, with only limited minutes on record. The first time anyone sees the grand plan is when it’s released.

Councillors are doing the same thing in briefing sessions, which do not meet the test for closed discussions. Nor are they releasing written accounts of these sessions, in accordance with their own policy.

Thankfully, now people can give their feedback, but it’s a little after the event. Do people really want the council to spend this type of money in the first place?

We commend the council for vital infrastructure work. The general fund and investments are in a healthy state and we can afford to free up some of this money.

But the council is about much more. It’s about openness, transparency and respect for the community, as Goulburn Mulwaree’s mission states.

As we near a new council term, we hope our new representatives truly embrace these values.