Campaspe Shire Council have decided whether fees will be waived outside of ordinary pool hours for the 2024/25 season.
As the temperature only rises, residents of Campaspe Shire have been flocking to pools, making use of another year of free entry.
On Tuesday, November 26 - at the first ordinary meeting of the new sitting council - it was decided the fees would still apply for pool use outside of normal operating hours, in line with previous years.
However, an amendment was made to provide Campaspe schools with 10 days’ worth of free pool usage that may fall outside of normal operating hours.
The addition to the motion was made by Cr Weston who said if a school requested to use the pool, providing the request would not extend operating hours or cost council additional operating costs, that there should be no cost to the school.
This would mean schools could run swimming lessons and host swimming carnivals without charge during the 2024/25 pool season for a maximum of 10 days.
All nine councillors voted to move the motion.
Cr John Zobec said it was a “good outcome” for the community and an opportunity for schools to “vary some of their costs” to provide outdoor swimming lessons, which is “live saving”.
Cr Paul Jarman said it should be mentioned that the council has “finite resources” but it is an ultimately good outcome to be able to provide a service the best they could without dipping into the council’s budget any more.