City of Newcastle CEO Jeremy Bath writes: The Inland Pools Strategy 2043 is our plan for protecting and improving Newcastle's public pools for the next 20 years

There was something magical about the sensation of that first dive into a cold pool on a hot summer's day. Hours would pass by in seemingly minutes. Eventually when exhaustion had taken hold, I would heave myself onto the pool edge and then collapse onto my laid out towel that had been nicely cooked by the concrete path. Then shortly before leaving, my parents would buy me a bag of hot chips, which somehow always tasted better if the kiosk had a bottle of vinegar on the counter. Mixed in between the lay down and the hot chips were games of cricket, football, and red rover.

What more could an Australian kid ask for?

In the early 1980s, between 500,000 and 600,000 people annually would visit Newcastle's public pools. The number of people using our public pools today is half this, predominately due to the surge in the number of backyard pools, which stands at a record high of 15 per cent of city homes.

However, in a sign of the enduring popularity of public pools, this visitation has remained consistent at around 350,000 people each year since the late 1990s.

And so it is with confidence that City of Newcastle, the lord mayor and council in 2021 set about developing a strategy to ensure the continued operation and protection of our five public pools for at least the next two decades.

Key to this work is understanding the cost of maintaining our five inland pools, as well as planning for future investment in our pools to ensure they are fit for purpose.

The Inland Pools Strategy 2043 is our plan for protecting and improving Newcastle's public pools for the next 20 years.

City of Newcastle commissioned independent engineering reports on the pool shell and tiles for each of its five pools. The reports confirm that the pools are in relatively good condition, and that maintenance work in recent years has ensured that none of them will need replacing inside the 20-year timeframe of this strategy.

However, the report does also confirm that the responsibility of owning a public pool is hugely expensive, and an unavoidable loss-making operation.

For City of Newcastle, the annual cost of operating our five pools would be more than $5 million, which doesn't include the cost of maintenance or improvements to the pool shells or associated buildings.

The task of maintaining local swimming pools has, in reality, been beyond the financial ability of local government for several decades.

Increasingly, this gap between financial sustainability and community expectation is rightly being met via state and federal governments. Indeed, in just the past few years, the Liberal and Labor parties have combined pledged $630 million to upgrade public pools in NSW.

Unfortunately, no money of note has been committed to the electorates of Newcastle, Wallsend or Charlestown.

It is with this financial challenge in mind that the strategy proposes a fund be established, with an amount set aside in a restricted reserve for the sole purpose of ensuring Newcastle's five local pools remain of a standard consistent with community expectations.

It is my view that this amount of money will need to be around $1 million annually based on the estimated costs identified in the strategy.

This funding will not, however, go near to covering the cost of replacing our pool shells when they fall due in 20 to 35 years.

Noting that, by 2043, the population of Newcastle is forecast to hit more than 200,000 people and the population of Greater Newcastle 800,000, City of Newcastle will expect a significant funding contribution from the state government in recognition of our status as NSW's second largest city and capital of the Hunter region.

While this strategy provides answers to many pool-related questions, the one matter it can't resolve is the timetable for a state-of-the-art aquatic centre at the NSW Government's sports and entertainment precinct in Broadmeadow, known as Hunter Park.

Regardless of the uncertainty of when the NSW Government will build an aquatic centre at Broadmeadow, the Inland Pools Strategy 2043, is an evidence-based roadmap for what the council can control.

With the support of the lord mayor and councillors, City of Newcastle will ensure that its five inland pools continue to serve the community, and, where appropriate, are upgraded so that they meet residents' expectations and needs.

City of Newcastle is accepting submissions regarding the draft strategy until May 9. Access the report at newcastle.nsw.gov.au

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Join the discussion in the comment section below.

Find out how to register or become a subscriber here.