A Port councillor has called on the council to investigate the viability of constructing a new 25-metre indoor heated pool at Medowie.
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Cr John Nell believes it is high time that the people of Medowie, with its growing population, had the same easy access to a public swim centre as those on Tomaree, Tilligerry and Raymond Terrace.
"My number one priority here is children's safety in the water. Every child has the right to learn to swim in their own backyard. Families living in Medowie are missing out on providing their children with potentially life-saving learn to swim classes. They should not have to travel to Lakeside."
There was mixed reaction from his central ward colleagues, with longtime Medowie resident Cr Chris Doohan saying that Medowie had far more urgent infrastructure matters to deal with.
Cr Nell estimated a cost of up to $4 million for a 25m indoor heated pool with shower and toilet block. "I think if the council could pitch in with $2 million, the other half could be sourced through funding grants." And he suggested it could be sited on vacant land adjacent to the newly constructed Medowie Community Club, due to its central location, easy access and opportunity for shared facilities [with the club] including carparking.
Cr Doohan said that while it would "be nice to have [a pool], there are other more urgent projects that would provide the Medowie community with more bang for their buck".
"Next on the agenda after the completion of Club Medowie is the replacement of the terrible facility at Boyd Oval, but even higher on my agenda is the improvement and development of a decent town centre with parkland and toilets," he said.
"[A pool] is certainly not essential right now considering Lakeside is approximately 10km away and the Medowie Sport & Business centre is intending to build a 25m indoor pool in the very heart of Medowie. Then there's the funding and running costs of a public pool ... which are only fractionally covered by entry fees."
Cr Steve Tucker said he was very supportive of the pool if it could be managed by the new club. "Stand alone pools lose money so it would make sense to incorporate it with an existing facility to reduce overheads." Cr Sarah Smith believed the concept would be "challenging for council" considering there are plans for a similar pool by the Medowie Sports and Business centre.
Cr Nell said that there was a growing number of families settling into Medowie, in addition to having a new school being built with capacity for for 1,600 students with no public swim pool.
Latest figures released by Royal Life Saving Australia show that drownings in Australia are on the increase. The National Drowning Report for 2019 revealed that the total number of drowning deaths from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, increased by 10 per cent, with "drowning deaths in children aged 5-14 years making up 3 per cent".
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