In a passionate address to last night's meeting, Gunnedah councillor Owen Hasler said the society had not been consulted about the placement of the fence during the pool upgrade, and called on the council to admit it had made a mistake and rectify it.

His comments came after the president of the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society, Juliana McArthur, put forward a case for the fence to be relocated because it was "the most prudent, cost-effective and long-term solution" and would "honour the contribution" of those who funded the memorial.

Read also:

As former chair of the pool upgrade committee, Cr Hasler said he was "embarrassed by the outcome" and that the fencing made the statue look like it was in a "prison yard".

He moved that the council use left-over pool funding to move the fence back 2.4m and re-install a floodlight, which was removed during the pool upgrade.

Cr Ann Luke seconded the motion and voiced her support, saying it was "an eyesore" and "it would be good to rewrite this wrong".

In the business paper, the officer outlined four options to improve the aesthetics.

They were: planting screening vegetation, relocating the fence relocation, relocating the statue or installing an artistic backdrop.

Council's public facilities manager recommended planting vegetation at a cost of $1700, versus the society's preference of relocating the fence, planting vegetation and laying turf, which was estimated to cost about $8000.

Councillor Murray O'Keefe asked if the council had made its recommendation based on cost, but infrastructure services director Jeremy Bartlett said the main reason was that if the fence was relocated, it would still be in the background, and this "in the view of staff will not resolve the issue".

Society president Juliana McArthur said was thankful the councillors voted in favour of relocating the fence and rehabilitating the surrounds of the statue.

Subscribe to receive all your local news, for only $2 per week.