A draft plan to close Katoomba’s 50 metre outdoor pool has been met with concern by community members after the Gazette exclusively revealed the news in last week’s edition.
Under the proposal the three outside pools would be shut in 2018 and replaced with “outdoor training courts” while the season at Blackheath’s 25 metre pool will be extended by two months by heating that pool for six months.
The information is outlined in the final draft of the Open Space and Recreation Strategic Plan – part of the council business papers to be debated at their October 17 meeting. The pools cost $7 million to operate annually, and are subsidised by $2.91 million by council.
The Mountains has five aquatic centres with 16 individual pools. The report says the most heavily subsidised pool is Blackheath – to the tune of $12.60 per visit (because of the short swimming season and low number of visits) compared to the lowest – 45 cents per visit at Springwood (a year-round facility with high visitation); while Katoomba is subsidised by $3.52 per visit. Blackheath pool services a much smaller catchment (6,397 people) compared to Katoomba (18,856) and on average Blackheath residents only visit their pool once a year, compared to more than 11 visits per head visiting the entire Katoomba centre. Blackheath is the only pool that is “below industry average” on visits and subsidies.
The report estimates it will cost $800,000 to fill in the Katoomba pool as lawn, and also fix the heating and other indoor features and $400,000 to make the changes to Blackheath, including opening the public toilets/change rooms year-round.
The report says the Mountains “has an unusually high level of duplication of recreational facilities most ... are near their end of useful life and do not conform to modern standards. Council has insufficient resources to maintain or renew all current facilities.”
“Some pools are so old they will soon be unrepairable [and] recent developments in splash zones offer great alternative(s),” the report adds.
A source told the Gazette last week the 45-year-old Katoomba pool was “very old and crumbling underneath” and would require a serious injection of funds to repair. Council has allocated $2.67 million for pool renewal over the next five years but to replace all “failing pools” requires $8.56 million.
If councillors approve the draft it will be placed on public exhibition where full costings will be revealed and the community will be able to comment.
Under the plan Lawson pool’s baby pools will become a splash zone, as will Blackheath’s smaller pools.
The strategic plan informs decisions for investment in future maintenance and planning of all council open space and recreational facilities – parks, sportsgrounds, leisure centres, walking tracks and bushland reserves.
A council spokeswoman said the draft plan was developed over a “considerable period of time with extensive research and consultation” and it was about the council achieving “improved long term financial sustainability”.
- See community comments p30
