Children’s pool floor at Norlane ARC prompts warning for parents

A Bell Post Hill family is warning others to be cautious in a Geelong pool after children suffered bleeding feet from their summer time fun.

Luisa, Martin and Anderson have sore feet after spending time at the children’s pool at Norlane ARC. Picture: Alan Barber

Parents are being warned to be cautious of how much time their children are spending in pools after some have come away from a Geelong facility with bleeding toes.

Tom Higgs has been taking his children, niece and nephew, who range in age from four to seven, to the Norlane Aquatic Recreation Centre (ARC) during school holidays and found they had been left with abrasions on their big toes.

The Bell Post Hill family had been swimming in the children’s pool and using the on-site water slides for about 90 minutes.

The surface of the pool is a non-slip material for safety purposes.

Tom Higgs with his nephew, Anderson, and two children, Luisa and Martin, and their sore feet after playing in the Norlane ARC pool. Picture: Alan Barber

Mr Higgs said the children had abrasions that looked like carpet burn and were bleeding.

“Because their feet were wet they were leaving a trail of blood and now they have sore toes,” he said.

“We went there two days in a row and a bloke stopped me in there and said to be careful because his kids were complaining of sore feet, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time.

“We spent time in the children’s pool and going down the water slides and I think the issue is the tiles in the pool.

“I don’t want my kids to have bleeding feet.”

Mr Higgs said the facility itself was “fantastic” and that a large number of children would head to the pool over the holiday period.

“The team at ARC were great and helped us out, but the tiles are too rough,” he said.

“We won’t be able to keep heading down there unless we bandage the kids toes, we don’t want kids all having bleeding toes in the pool.”

The $65.6m Norlane ARC opened to the public in February this year.

City Hall’s executive director of city life Anthony Basford said Australian standards required the facility to have pool tiles that were non-slip.

“We are unable to reduce the non-slip properties of the tiles as this would present an unacceptable drowning risk, especially for children,” he said.

“We have received a small number of reports of isolated occurrences where feet are getting minor abrasions after spending significant time in the pool, typically longer than 90 minutes.

“We have had a number of independent inspections on the tiles to ensure they are appropriate for the environment, and we will continue to monitor.

“These inspections have confirmed there are no sharp edges on any tiles in any of our pools.”

Mr Basford said the council was also educating parents and children about exposure time in pools.

Originally published as Children’s pool floor at Norlane ARC prompts warning for parents