Pools, or at least some version of aquatic services, will be a part of Campaspe Shire communities for decades to come.
After more than 10 years of debate — dating back to a 2012 aquatic services review that highlighted the significant financial impact of running swimming pools — the community can now rejoice.
People in Campaspe Shire have not been prepared to give up their pools and fought tooth and nail to keep them.
Campaspe Shire Mayor Rob Amos, who rarely interjects into debate as chair of the monthly council meeting, provided a succinct explanation of what he had heard from constituents in the widespread debate of the past three years.
“Our community has told us they deeply value our pools,” he said.
“They can now feel reassured that this council is committed to keeping pools and splash parks throughout the shire.”
Cr Amos while the pools were ageing facilities and faced future challenges on a number of fronts, aquatic services of some description would continue to be supplied by the local government authority.
“Pools or wet play areas will be enjoyed by the communities for decades into the future,” he said.
Council debated the future of aquatic services in the shire at its March 19 meeting through a document prepared to establish a position regarding the future of pools in the shire.
A commitment has now been made by council to the seven communities serviced by council-run outdoor pools (Kyabram, Tongala, Stanhope, Colbinabbin, Rushworth, Lockington and Rochester) to continue the financial backing of these services.
Council spent some time discussing the Rochester pool, destroyed by the October 2022 floods, committing $500,000 to the demolition of the pool shell and buildings on the site to develop a new facility.
Cr Daniel Mackrell said the new buzz words of the aquatic service industry, “wet play”, allowed council to redesign the provision of its services in line with community wishes.
“What we are saying, in layman’s terms, is that this council will continue to provide aquatic services,” he said.
Cr Paul Jarman, who moved a motion to undertake a new aquatic strategy, said the delay to developing place-based plans and township facility plans had created uncertainty in the community.
The future of aquatic services in the shire was strongly tied to the outcome of both these engagement programs.
With neither anywhere near completion, council had been under extreme pressure to make a call on the future of pools.
Council had expected to have the plans finished by October 2023, incorporating community suggestions into future aquatic service provision.
Cr Jarman said providing some certainty to the community in regards to pools was important.
“While we work through this strategy, we will continue to provide aquatic facilities,” he said.
“The pools have been a difficult subject for a long time, ultimately though we haven’t gotten far enough.
“The community has been patient and our ability to consider the future of the pools is very important. This strategy allows us to continue providing services while developing future plans.”
Cr John Zobec said it had been a long road to get to this point, but the community had shown council what it wanted: pools.
Cr Colleen Gates said being so far behind schedule on the delivery of PBP and TFP documents made this decision important.
“The community needs some clarity on what is going on,” she said.
Cr Adrian Weston said the pool journey, and associated conversations, had been part of all three of his council terms.
“We didn’t expect the PBP and TFP to take this long,” he said.
He said going any further with deliberations on the pools without them being finished was not realistic.
“People clearly want to keep their pools. The uncertainty has not served our communities well,” he said.
“We need to let communities decide on what their assets look like in the future.”
For the past two years, pools in the shire have been free to use, which has tripled patronage of the facilities.
Attendance numbers to the end of February were made available to the Free Press by council.
Kyabram had 7678 people through the gates of the pool on the 87 days it operated in the 2023-24 swim season (an average of 88 people a day).
Other numbers were Colbinabbin (2551), Lockington (3798), Rushworth (1724), Stanhope (2241) and Tongala (3693).
Colbinabbin, Lockington, Rushworth, Tongala and Stanhope were all open for 91 days from the last weekend in November.
Pools closed for only five days due to cold weather during the swim season, with storm damage causing the closure of the Kyabram pool for a short time.
There were 1299 registered season passes issued, with six schools using the Lockington, Colbinabbin, Tongala, Kyabram and Rushworth outdoor pools.