Councillors Lisa Ruffell and Keith Reynard were absent from the meeting, reducing the council to seven members.

Councillors Barry Lyons, Rod Fyffe and Bruce Phillips also supported the 50m option, while James Reade, Peter Cox and Rod Campbell voted against the motion.

The vote offers no guarantee to an indoor aquatic centre.

Council staff will now seek to find funding for the proposed $28.97 million centre, which is about $3 million more than the 25m option.

Cr Lyons, Kangaroo Flat’s elected representative, said 25m would be insufficient and the community would help fundraise the project.

“We need to build this pool for now but more importantly for the future,” he said.

Cr Lyons said the majority of the funding for the centre should come from external sources, including state and federal governments.

Cr Fyffe said spending $3 million more to build a 50m pool was a wise investment, especially to attract competitions to Bendigo.

“We are able to deliver on major sporting events, we have done it a number of ways... this is one where we can also expand our horizons (and) incorporate major events,” he said.

Cr Phillips said the council had to plan to cater for its “exponential growth”.

Cr Campbell said the council had enough 50m pools and major swimming events should be at the existing Bendigo Aquatic Centre.

He said building and maintaining a 50m pool was outside the council’s means financially.

“There is a difference between wants and needs,” Cr Campbell said.

Cr Cox said the council had already moved other projects ahead of the Kangaroo Flat aquatic centre.

He said the council previously wanted to build an indoor pool for $12 to $15 million and the proposed centre was almost double that.

“Nothing is going to happen in the foreseeable future,” Cr Cox said.

“We have been manipulated into this situation.”

Cr Reade said the council needed to focus on its “bread and butter” projects such as fixing the municipality’s road and drain network ahead of an aquatic centre.

He said he was unable to support such a major project that a future council would inherit.

“We don’t have the financial capacity to do this project within the next five years and (would) struggle within the next 10 years,” Cr Reade said.

In adopting an aquatic strategy, the council endorsed to pursue a 50m indoor pool complex that includes a raft of other services, pools and activities.

The council would close the Golden Square, Long Gully and Kangaroo Flat pools and construct a Long Gully aquatic play space.