General News
1 August, 2022
Pool rebuild will bring big benefits to region, club say
The Maryborough Swimming Club has thrown its full support behind the decision to demolish and rebuild Maryborough’s 50-metre outdoor pool, believing a new, purpose-built facility will yield significant benefits for the community. The Central...
The Maryborough Swimming Club has thrown its full support behind the decision to demolish and rebuild Maryborough’s 50-metre outdoor pool, believing a new, purpose-built facility will yield significant benefits for the community.
The Central Goldfields Shire Council last week decided to close the Maryborough Outdoor Pool indefinitely until it could be demolished and rebuilt, as the pool shell had reached the end of its life.
The organisation will seek up to $6 million in funding from both state and federal governments to demolish and rebuild the heritage listed 50-metre Olympic pool and it’s expected to take several years for funding to be secured.
While the closure will negatively impact users and user groups, the Maryborough Swimming Club fully supports the council’s decision, believing the benefits of a rebuilt pool outweigh the drawbacks its closure will have in the short term.
Club president Heidi Bennett said it was important the community supported the council’s decision, as it was one that had to be made.
“There have been safety issues at the pool for a number of years and this is something that needs to be done,” she said.
“I think it’s really important that we get behind the council as a community and support this decision.
“The more support the community can give the council with this, the faster we might be able to get a new pool up and running.”
Maryborough Swimming Clubtreasurer and head coach Randall Edwards acknowledged the closure would impact the club, specifically members’ training and the club’s annual swim carnival.
“We’ll have some disadvantage with the pool being closed, the main one is we don’t have the opportunity for our kids to train in a 50-metre pool which is ideal during the summer time,” he said.
“The closure will also impact our annual swimming carnival which is our main event and source of income for the whole year.
“This year with the pool being closed in February we actually held the event in Bendigo which worked out okay and we still got support from all the local businesses which was great but ideally, we’d like to have it in Maryborough.
“In terms of training we’ll continue to do that at the indoor pool and will look at an alternative for setting up our diving blocks at another pool like Dunolly.”
Mr Edwards said while the closure was unfortunate it was necessary and once the 50-metre pool was rebuilt, it would be a “great benefit” to the community.
“We’re pleased the pool is going to be rebuilt because it definitely needs it,” he said.
“Having a quality 50-metre pool will actually attract bigger events for us.
“It’s a bit of a two-edged sword, the pool could be closed for several years because it’s a big project but it’s got to be done and in the long run, this will make it a better facility for everyone.”
Council will implement a number of support initiatives ahead of the next pool season to mitigate the impacts of the outdoor pool’s closure, including extending the operating hours of the Dunolly and Talbot outdoor pools and providing free entry to these facilities.
Council will also organise an initiative to provide free vouchers to the indoor pool for young people and support local schools and the swimming club during the closure, which Mr Edwards welcomed.
“The council have spoken to us about what support they can provide during the closure period so there is certainly some support there which is great,” he said.
“They’re looking to help us overcome the challenges this will cause, we just have to figure out the finer details of what that support might look like but it’s certainly positive.”
Central Goldfields Shire mayor Chris Meddows-Taylor said council was committed to reopening the pool and supporting users during its closure.
“We know the closure is something that will impact the community and we will compensate users for the loss of that facility in the meantime,” he said.
“Providing use of the other pools, giving vouchers and free access is to try and make things easier for users and user groups to support them.
“We’ll do everything we can to make things easier for users and user groups, we’ll work with them and provide support as we need to give the best compensation we can.
“It is a shame it’s come to this with the outdoor pool but it’s also a chance for other pool facilities in the shire to get greater use.”
Cr Meddows-Taylor said the pool’s closure was a last resort for council and securing the funding to reopen it is a top priority, one council is already working on.
“There has been some commentary that this is council’s way of closing the pool and putting it in the too hard basket but the reality is that this is a top priority for us,” he said.
“We’re going to do everything we can to get the money we need as quickly as possible to do the quality job that’s needed to get the whole complex and pool properly done.
“This is an issue we’ve already spoken to the Treasurer (Tim Pallas) about and we’ve discussed this with Member for Ripon Louise Staley and Labor’s candidate for the seat Martha Haylett.
“We are tackling this issue head on and are fully committed to reopening the pool facility as soon as we can.”