Upper Lachlan CEO Alex Waldron with her award presented by Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig and the Minister for Women, Seniors and Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Jodie Harrison. Photo: NSW Government.
When the Crookwell swimming pool opens this summer, you can bet Alex Waldron will be the first to dip her toes in – and few would question her right to do so.
When, in July last year, the company building the pool for residents of the Upper Lachlan Shire Council (ULSC), in the NSW Southern Tablelands, went into liquidation, Ms Waldron, as the council’s CEO, wasn’t going to take it lying down.
Locals had spent too long raising money and the ULSC filling in too many forms for funding, for the project to dry up. What was just as bad, Ms Waldron discovered, was that once news got out that the company had gone bust, some subcontractors took to the site of the proposed aquatic centre, even ramming down fences to recoup what they believed to be their losses, like building materials.
It turned out not to be their material but when the building site was locked up, and the subcontractors were owed money, desperation had set in that the project would never get above ground.
But as far as Ms Waldron was concerned, that was never going to happen.
“I got called out there that weekend,” she said, “because someone had rammed through the fence to get material inside. I knew it wasn’t their material to take because we’d already paid them for it through the council.”
Ms Waldron said she had “a word” with those who tried to get the material out, stopping them in their tracks.
“These are hard situations to deal with,” she said. “It wasn’t exactly criminal behaviour we were dealing with then, just people upset because they didn’t think they were going to get their materials back.
“By Monday, I had all the material from in there moved out and secured on another site – and that saved the project.”
The company did go into liquidation but through, according to Ms Waldron, communication and not a small amount of common sense, the aquatic project, or at least a scaled down version, was back on track.
“I took it on myself,” she said, as well as her other duties as CEO. “It was going to be our fourth season without a pool … I couldn’t let that happen.
“What with COVID and all that rain we had, we hadn’t delivered on some other projects. My job is to make sure we do deliver on projects so that the funding we receive is not in jeopardy.
“The aquatic centre was the biggest infrastructure project so I took it on myself.
“I have children so I know how important it is for them to learn to swim safely, that’s one reason why I took it on – and I’m pleased to say the project is now well on track.”
Last week, Ms Waldron was honoured by the NSW Government with a Woman of Distinction award.
CEO of Upper Lachlan Shire Council, Alex Waldron, on site at the long-awaited Crookwell swimming pool which is scheduled to open in November. Photo: Supplied.
She described the honour as “humbling” but doesn’t know who nominated her, but says someone taking the trouble to do so was tantamount to the actual win.
The awards, which were delivered across the state, went to women who demonstrated innovation and integrity and a positive influence on others.
It is also believed her stance, through the ULSC to stage a family event in 2023 which its neighbouring council, Goulburn-Mulwaree, had been forced to cancel because of threats of violence, played a role in the honour.
Rainbow Storytime with drag artist Betty Confetti, an event that celebrates diversity and inclusion in the community, was scheduled for last year at the Goulburn library, but was cancelled when staff were threatened.
Ms Waldron said when she heard that Goulburn – and other local government areas across the state had cancelled its storytime events because of homophobic threats – she knew she had to do something.
“There are few moments in life when you know you can’t stay quiet, and you need to stand up and say, no, I can’t accept this,” she said at the time.
“As an openly gay female CEO I knew this would be controversial and I knew it would stir up homophobia and bigotry that would be aimed towards me. I even expected a petition or protest, but I hadn’t, however, anticipated the level of vitriol, threats of violence or attempt to run me off the road that followed my invitation to Betty Confetti.”
The Betty Confetti events were held at libraries throughout the Upper Lachlan Shire, with all of them selling out – and all attended by Ms Waldron, with no protests.
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