At least two year wait for Parramatta pool replacement

Parramatta pool will close at the end of the summer season but there’s still no plans for a replacement facility.

The Parramatta pool will close for residents at the end of the summer season early in 2017.

Parramatta pool is the go-to facility to cool off in the hot weather, so residents are wondering what they will do when it is demolished at the end of the summer.

The pool is being moved from its O’Connell St site to make way for the new $300 million Western Sydney Stadium.

Decommissioning work started on the existing stadium last week but a decision on a replacement pool is yet to be made.

While Parramatta Council investigates the former golf course as a potential site, there is still no news of an interim solution.

The community will be without a pool for at least two years while a new aquatic centre is built.

“We’ve waited too long to do the deal,” Parramatta state Liberal MP Geoff Lee said.

“(Infrastructure NSW) needs to negotiate with Parramatta Council so that we can start building.”

On a visit to Parramatta, Sport Minister Stuart Ayres said the short-term loss of the pool would pay off in the long run.

“There’s no doubt that as we progress and advance as communities, there is a little disruption,” he said.

“You really get a choice here: you can have the existing old stadium and watch it crumble around us or we can have a mature discussion as to where is the best place to have a pool in the Parramatta community.”

Mr Lee described the development as a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity, but every day counted.

“You have got to do it now, not later, because every day that goes past is a day we don’t start the two-year build again,” he said.

“We want as little time as possible for the community to be in that transition period without a pool.”

Parramatta Council recently transferred ownership of its Granville pool to Cumberland Council, leaving its only other facility in Epping, a 20-minute drive.

To date, there has been no decisions made as to the transition process.

“Parramatta Council continues to investigate alternative swimming arrange­ments for patrons of the Parramatta War Memorial Swimming Centre, and hopes to provide updates soon,” a spokeswoman said.