Swimming pool opening times slashed by cash-strapped councils

Communities across the state are facing a summer with less pool time and fewer swimming lessons as cash-strapped councils cut opening times to save money. But experts say it’s a risky move that could push children into more dangerous waters.

More than 200 people have drowned in rivers, lakes or dams in NSW over the past five years, including 19 people aged under 20, according to Royal Life Saving Australia.

Berry pool will have a shorter season this year.Credit: Shoalhaven City Council

“If people are going to the local river because the pool’s not open, a single [consequent] drowning death is the equivalent of multiple years of an operating budget,” the association’s general manager for capability and industry, RJ Houston, said.

“The more inland and the more regional you go, the kids have the same – if not a greater – right to safe places to swim and to good programs.”

But on the NSW South Coast, schools in Berry, Culburra, and Shoalhaven Heads are scrambling to find new venues or dates for their learn-to-swim programs after Shoalhaven City Council cut the season for its outdoor village pools by six weeks to save $110,000.

The council also cut opening times for indoor pools and libraries and shut ocean pools for winter in an attempt to reduce a $25 million structural deficit.

Katrina Thomas fought for her local pool in Kangaroo Valley to have a longer season.Credit: Sam Mooy

But the decision to shorten the season at Kangaroo Valley pool upset locals, who convinced the council to reverse the decision this month. The pool will now open as planned on November 2, meaning the local primary school can proceed with its lessons.

Local swimmer Katrina Thomas said the facility brought the village together and taught children a survival skill.

“After school, if it’s hot, everyone is at the pool,” Thomas said. “It’s been a great thing to gather around the pool and be a community, really … we see all our friends and neighbours.”

Regional councils are also looking at closing down their pools rather than paying for their upkeep or replacement.

Families enjoy a swim at Krambach public pool.Credit: Krambach Progress Association/Facebook

About 40 per cent of the nation’s outdoor pools will reach the end of their functional lives by 2030, according to the Royal Life Saving Society, and replacing them will cost $8 billion. It says a targeted government funding program is needed so pools don’t have to compete with other infrastructure projects, like roads, for funding.

Bega Valley Shire mayor Russell Fitzpatrick said his council was facing a $16 million bill to replace Bega pool in the next five years and had missed out on a couple of government grants for the project.

“No one wants to lose their pool in a small town,” Fitzpatrick said. “To rationalise it is almost impossible because of the community backlash, and in reality, you don’t want to close them either. If you teach one kid to swim a year, and it stops an infant drowning, that’s well and good.”

In the Southern Highlands, locals are fighting plans to close pools at Bundanoon and Bowral within the next decade once a planned $100 million facility opens at Mittagong.

Bega Memorial Pool needs a $16 million upgrade.Credit: Bega Valley Shire Council

It’s a battle the village of Krambach, near Taree, won in May when it stopped MidCoast Council from closing its 15-metre pool, built with donations in the 1980s amid fears children could drown in a nearby dam.

Further south, Batlow father Phil Quarmby said it was disappointing local children would have less time in their town’s pool this year to learn to swim after Snowy Valleys Council cut the season and hours for four pools, including Batlow, to save $80,000.

Local children swim in the Batlow pool.Credit: Phil Quarmby

“We’re just about there every day when it’s open,” Quarmby said of the pool where he learnt to swim in the 1980s. “I prioritise swimming for the kids; it’s such a crucial thing for them to learn to do.”

In neighbouring Snowy Monaro, the council considered closing some of its pools but ruled out the move and instead shortened the season for Adaminaby and Berridale pools this summer.

Governments are shifting costs onto local councils, state and federal inquiries have heard this year, and as a result councils are struggling to pay for services they have always provided, like pools. Some mayors have said the grant funding system is also unfair because larger councils have extra staff to write winning applications.

In some parts of the state, councils have moved to an “unsupervised” operating model at their pools to cut costs, but Houston said that was problematic because swimmers could need rescuing after suffering a medical episode.

“It’s inevitable that kind of system will be misunderstood or abused or inadequately designed.”

The NSW Office for Sport said it had provided $25 million to nine public pool projects over the past three financial years, and other departments had also awarded grants.

The Albanese government said it had invested $166 million in local pools through grants.