Why your next swim could be in the Yarra
The city’s iconic Yarra river is the unlikely spot floated for the CBD’s next pool
Victoria
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Hopes for a public pool and wetlands created on the Yarra River in the CBD have been revived.
But the future of a nearby helipad is uncertain as City of Melbourne starts planning its Greenline linear park idea.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp told a council meeting that the Yarra Pools plan for Enterprize was on the agenda.
“After much discussion we believe that it is an appropriate time to formally assess that proposal, and Greenline really gives us the opportunity to do that,” she said.
It’s a shot in the arm for the pools’ backers, given that in 2018 the council rejected their plea for $175,000 funding to mount a business case.
At least $50 million in public and private funding would be needed for Yarra Pools, which would include a main pool, lap pool, wetlands and launching points for kayaking and other activities.
The group’s president Felicity Watson said that Greenline was the ideal opportunity to explore the reintroduction of recreational swimming to the north bank of the Yarra.
“In Greenline, we’re excited to see design principles that align strongly with the vision that we developed through extensive stakeholder consultation,” she told the meeting.
Ms Watson said that Yarra Pools was also working with partners on a “temporary movable” pool design.
But the aviation industry is concerned that the council wants to encourage the closure of the Batman Park helipad under its Greenline strategy.
Former deputy lord mayor and now CEO of electric aviation start-up Skyportz, Clem Newton-Brown, said getting rid of it would be a big mistake.
“We are on the cusp of a revolution in clean, green, quiet electric aviation, and there will be fundamental changes very soon in the way in which we move people and goods,” he said.
“As the only city in Australia with a central city helipad, Melbourne was well placed to lead the way.”
Mr Newton-Brown said dumping the helipad would contradict a recently released federal government policy paper on new and emerging aviation technologies.
“With the CBD struggling to attract business and aspiring to attract jobs in tech industries, the move to sink the Yarra helipad is shortsighted and has been done without any proper consultation or assessment,” he said.
Ms Capp told the meeting that planning for alternate sites for the helipad and aerial vehicles had started under a previous strategy for the Yarra.
She said discussions would continue.
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