Published 28 October 2024 in the Age / Sydney Morning Herald, re-produced under license
Swimming pool opening times slashed by cash-strapped councils
Author: Catherine Naylor
Communities across [Australia] 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.
“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.”
In some parts of [Australia], 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.”
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.”
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.
The full article is available here: https://www.theage.com.au/national/nsw/swimming-pool-opening-times-slashed-by-cash-strapped-councils-20241015-p5kijh.html
