As a city that loves to swim, Sydney boasts the highest concentration of ocean pools in the world. Among them is the famous Bondi Icebergs, as well as a number of smaller public and privately owned spots that are loved by locals.
But these pools aren’t just places to splash around and get some tan. They’re also important community hubs, serving as social centres for families and providing a safe place to learn to swim and keep fit.
This is especially true for disadvantaged communities, where public aquatic facilities are often the only ones available. In fact, according to research by the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSA), there are 2,113 publicly accessible pools across Australia – one for every 178,960 people – and they’re where most Australians first learn to swim.
It’s a statistic that’s of particular concern to the RLSA, which is predicting a “massive decline” in the availability of these pools in coming decades, and it’s why the organisation has launched a campaign called Pools for Everyone.
The aim is to encourage councils to invest in the infrastructure and keep them open as they age. In turn, this will ensure they can continue to provide these vital services for the community.
While the saga of North Sydney’s Olympic pool may be an outlier, the lessons learned are being closely watched by other NSW councils facing ageing pool dilemmas. Three more inner Sydney pools – Botany, Leichhardt and Mt Druitt – are slated for renovations with budgets expected to blow out. The delays and cost blowouts have prompted questions about council infighting, pork-barrelling, heritage concerns and a lack of transparency.
The saga of North Sydney’s Olympic Pool has left many residents frustrated and angry. The independent federal MP for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, argues that the troubles began with the pool being given a $10 million grant that wasn’t part of the original plan. “That money just threw everything out of the window,” she says.
It’s a claim echoed by North Sydney mayor Zoe Baker who says the project became bogged down in a “drama of errors and miscalculations”. The delays have also raised concerns over the use of state-government funding known as special rate variation (SRV) which is designed to help shield rate payers from hikes but can be controversial. The SRV decision is due to be made by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal this month. In the meantime, some councils are taking a wait and see approach before embarking on major pool renovations. Others are considering seeking debt financing to avoid the SRV process altogether. However, the RLSA warns that debt financing is not a long-term solution and could lead to future SRV requests. This could put pressure on state government in times of economic uncertainty and may result in higher rates for future generations. It would also make it more difficult for NSW councils to access capital grants to assist with the cost of upgrading their aging swimming infrastructure.