Mayor Tom Tate responds to fresh calls for ocean pools on the Gold Coast
Bondi-style saltwater ocean pools on the Gold Coast’s world-famous beachfronts will add a whole new dimension to the city’s appeal, says a new proponent with a surf life saving resume.
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Bondi-style ocean pools on the Gold Coast’s world-famous beachfronts will add a whole new dimension to the city’s appeal, says a new proponent with a surf life saving resume.
Calls for the unique attractions have resurfaced, led by local businessman Todd Hiscock who says saltwater pools would serve as a “standalone tourist attraction”, giving the elderly and infirm the chance to experience the ocean without sharks, stingers, rips and dumpy waves.
“For many of these people, fear keeps them from fully enjoying one of the most quintessential Australian pastimes – a cooling dip in the ocean,” he said.
Mr Hiscock said his “passion for ocean pools” was “reinvigorated” by a new $4 million facility in Caloundra backed by Sunshine Coast Council.
The surf life saver said he was “picking up the baton” from tourism leader and Surfers Pardise Surf Life Saving Club stalwart Billy James who in 2020 secured 13,000 signatures in favour of Gold Coast ocean pools.
At the time, Mr James and Paralympic gold medallist Katie Kelly wrote to Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate to consider the idea.
Speaking four years after his initial submission, Mr James said it was knocked back by council for being too expensive.
“NSW has more than 100 (ocean pools) and we (the Gold Coast) have none. Aren’t we good enough?” he said.
“It’s nonsense. Tom, if you put up the first one, we will name it after you.
“It will be the only thing anyone will remember.”
Mr Tate said the city conducted an ocean pools evaluation in 2022, suggesting no new investigation was planned.
“As an engineer I’m very aware of the challenges around building an ocean pool on the Gold Coast,” he said.
“We leave nobody behind on the Gold Coast with beach matting and wheelchairs as well as our popular saltwater swimming enclosures.”
Mr Hiscock flagged North Burleigh Heads, Surfers Paradise and Northcliffe as the most promising potential locations for a pool, but opinion is divided at frontrunner Burleigh.
In a Facebook post, Gold Coaster Annie Emmerson called for the Burleigh Heads south section to be transformed into an ocean lap pool.
Burleigh Heads should reinstate the ocean pool replaced by a building (now Burleigh Pavilion) in 1987, she said.
“Who else would love to see our Burleigh rock pool transformed into an ocean lap pool, similar to the ones in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney?” Ms Emmerson asked.
“No, this is Burleigh, not Sydney. It’s beautiful naturally,” Sonya Underdahl responded.
Others called for the former private Rackley’s pool, housed under Burleigh Pavilion, to be reopened instead.
Burleigh Pavilion owner Ben May said he had plans to reinvent the space and make it one of the “best little health and wellness spaces that anyone has ever seen”.
“I understand people have a nostalgic view and there used to be a pool where the Pavilion is,” he said.
“I would’ve thought the Gold Coast is incredibly well-served for proper pools at Pizzey Park and the new Palm Beach Aquatic Centre, which is extraordinary.”
Mr May said he believed the Gold Coast didn’t have the correct landscape to replicate ocean pools like at Bondi.
“The Gold Coast just doesn’t have the headlands and you’re not going to put one at Tweed, Snapper Rocks or Kirra Beach,” he said.
“Then you only have Currumbin and Burleigh and I would’ve thought when you only have four beautiful headlands, whether it’s right to put a pool in one of them … I don’t know.”
Mr May said the only space for an ocean rock pool in Burleigh Heads would be between The Pavilion and Burleigh Hill.
“Good luck getting that past the greens,” he said.
Mr May said they were approaching the “pointy end” of council approvals for a new health and wellness centre below The Pavilion.
The redevelopment, which will feature ice baths, mineral baths, hot pools, steam rooms and saunas, has been in discussions with council since late 2023.
“A big part of what we are doing downstairs does include part of the old pool but just not the crappy little four lane and 25m part,” Mr May said.
“I know we are nostalgic for old things, but there’s also progress.
“I personally think what we are going to be putting in there is several times better than what was there.
“It’s important that we do it because of the history of the site and it will make The Pavilion a more well-rounded destination.”
OPINION: Why Gold Coast ocean pools has to happen
Author: Todd Hiscock
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If you grew up on the Gold Coast splitting your summers between the surf and backyard pools, it might surprise you to learn that 23 per cent of Australians are weak swimmers or can’t swim at all.
The situation is even worse among some of the city’s inbound tourism markets, with nearly half of Hong Kong’s secondary school students unable to swim.
For many of these people, fear keeps them from fully enjoying one of the most quintessential Australian pastimes – a cooling dip in the ocean. Those who do venture into the surf sometimes pay with their lives.
Many other tourist destinations along the Australian coastline cater to visitors with safe, accessible ocean pools.
There are no sharks, no stingers, no rips, no dumpers and easy entry and exit with ramps and rails.
The first ocean pool in Australia was built by convicts in Newcastle in 1819, and Burleigh Heads had one as recently as 1978.
I’m on a mission to reintroduce ocean pools to the Gold Coast and have met with all levels of government, picking up the baton from businessman and tourism leader Billy James who has campaigned on the issue for years with the backing of Paralympic gold medallist Katie Kelly.
In 2020 Billy and Katie penned an open letter to Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate calling for ocean pools investment to become a more diverse and inclusive city.
The letter asked the Mayor to imagine a life without access to the beach with Katie detailing how one in five people in the community have a disability.
They delivered testimonials from the Australian Olympic Committee and a change.org petition with 13,000-plus signatures.
Mayor Tate at the time was reported as saying he is on board with the pitch to install ocean pools, saying he believed Burleigh was the preferred site but just one was viable.
We have identified potential new sites at the northern end of Burleigh (about 100m from North Burleigh Surf Club) and in Surfers Paradise and Northcliffe.
All the sites we’ve chosen for the Gold Coast are close to the light rail and are accessible to those with mobility issues, the elderly and kids.
The north Burleigh location, on the southern end of the rock wall, would not create any issue with natural sand flow.
One would be a start in a city that attracts 16 million visitors a year. Wollongong, with a third of the population of the Gold Coast, has 16.
My passion for ocean pools has been reinvigorated by the wonderful facility recently rebuilt by the Sunshine Coast Council for just $4 million.
The 25m Kings Beach ocean pool at Caloundra is equipped with shaded areas, a kids’ pool, barbecue facilities, public toilets and a wading area.
But it doesn’t have to cost $4 million. The ocean pools in Cronulla, for example, were cheap to build (a few hundred thousand dollars) and economical and easy to maintain.
My son Ryan has produced a 180-page glossy pictorial book of ocean pools in NSW, called 69 Ocean Pools, and daughter Amelie has produced four short films on YouTube highlighting the value of more public swimming areas on the Gold Coast, and showing just how much people enjoy them.
During their research they found the NSW ocean pools had a special place in the hearts of the local communities, especially for the elderly and infirm.
The momentum to build ocean pools is growing, but still no physical progress, disappointingly.
Ryan and I are active surf lifesavers with the North Burleigh club, and we know the dangers of swimming on the coast better than most.
We’ve seen the pools along the NSW coast and how they vary in width, length and depth depending on their location.
Snapper Rocks once had a popular ocean pool which is now a distant memory.
We acknowledge from a tourism viewpoint there are picturesque waterholes and waterfalls in the Gold Coast Hinterland.
While they are beautiful, they are not easily accessible and don’t offer the benefits of saltwater ocean pools.
I am a substantial owner of Essential Investments Pty Ltd (with other Bond University alumni) and have qualifications and experience in tourism having worked for, and trained at, several large resort hotel groups.
So, I am conscious of the value of tourist attractions on the coast.
Building these ocean pools as stand-alone tourist attractions will add a new dimension to the Gold Coast for the enjoyment of tourists and locals.
Saltwater is beautiful, it’s cleansing and brings so much joy.
Todd Hiscock is a substantial owner of Essential Investments, an international coffee company he runs with three Bond University alumni, and CEO of two of its investments Essential Coffee and Essential Coffee New Zealand across Australia and New Zealand. He is an active patrolling member of the North Burleigh SLSC.
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