Upper Hunter Shire Council has rejected their application for tender for the next three summer seasons, with the operation to be transferred to the Australian Lifeguard Service.

Gerard Jenkinson said while he has been the manager for the past four seasons, the business had been a joint family effort for 14 years.

“We feel we have done a good job managing the pool and that the work hasn’t been recognised,” he said.

“We had a lot of good references and we weren’t given an adequate response from council as to why the tender wasn’t approved.”

An Upper Hunter Shire Council spokesperson defended council’s decision, stating they are required to work through a rigorous tender evaluation process for any works worth over $150,000.

“Tenders are assessed against detailed specifications including safety systems, environmental procedures, technical and cost components and tenders are chosen that best meet the specifications,” the spokesperson said. 

However, Mr Jenkinson insisted the reasoning didn’t add up and there had been no dissatisfaction from the local community.

“It’s been a joint family effort and we have always put in 100 per cent to make it successful, so we are understandably disappointed,” he siad.

“We just feel as if we have been disregarded.”

Mr Jenkinson went on to say that while the family was very disappointed to see management of the pool given outside the local community, they wanted to thank everyone for their support over the past 14 years.

“While we are aware that it’s a contractual agreement, there is a lot more to running a pool than people think,” he explained.

“And, the management style will certainly be different to a family run business – only time will tell.”