Gunnedah councillors shot down a notice of motion to extend the pool's closing time to 8pm, after mayor Jamie Chaffey used his deciding vote to break a tie.

There were four councillors in favour of the motion and four against at the October ordinary meeting on Wednesday evening.

With Cr Gae Swain absent Cr Chaffey had the final say, and the motion was defeated.

Read also:

Cr Ann Luke, alongside Cr Colleen Fuller and Cr Owen Hasler, put forward the motion at the meeting. Cr David Moses voted in favour of it.

The group wanted a study to be done to see how many patrons came through the pool gates, to determine whether it would impact a cost ratio of 30 per cent Gunnedah Shire Council is hoping to recover.

They were hoping the study would occur from November this year until June 2021, so they didn't have to either raise the entry price or lower the pay of pool staff to meet the 30 per cent target.

Cr Luke said before votes were cast that opening later than 7pm would be great for families in the heat of summer.

"If we close the pool at 7pm as its current hours are now, we're asking those families to leave in what is one of the hottest parts of the day," she said at the meeting.

"We'll be saying 'go home to your hot house, don't have tea here, limit your use of the pool', and I think that would be a big loss to the community and to the families that use that time."

What do you think? Click this link to send a letter to the editor.

The NVI posed the question to community members via Facebook prior to the meeting, and all who responded said they would like it open till 8pm.

"I think that given the disruption to the pool operating times over the last couple of years it would be great to keep the 8pm closing time this season, and really promote the facility and benefits of water-based family recreation time to the community," Rebecca Ryan wrote.

Operating hours over the summer season will be Monday to Saturday 5.30am to 7pm and Sundays 9am to 6pm.