10/10/2026
WALGETT:
ONE OUTBACK TOWN WILL FACE A SCORCHING SUMMER THIS YEAR WITHOUT A SWIMMING POOL.
Walgett Memorial Swimming Pool will remain permanenty closed with the local council claiming it's "beyond repair" and unsafe to use.
Walgett is located in the far north of the state and would be one of the hottest places in NSW in summer. Temperatures regularly reach over 40C during the hottest part of the year.
Local resident Katrina Marshall who has two boys aged 17 and 14 said, "our rivers stink, so it's not like the kids can even go down there and enjoy themselves".
Ms Marshall said the closure of the local pool was a reminder that the NSW Government doesn't care about the regions. "We're always forgotten....we don't exist in Sydney unless kids are stealing cop cars".
The Walgett pool was built in the 60s and it's showing it's age.
In 2023, the council voted to decommission the pool before patching it up to reopen in 2024. It closed again in April this year after the council deemed it "unsafe".
Walgett's Mayor, Jasen Ramien has written to the Premier describing the pool as the "backbone of the community".
"It is one of the few places in our town that offers relief from the heat, but also relief from boredom, disengagement and isolation," he said.
Walgett Shire Council is currently seeking State and Federal funding to the tune of $24 million to build a new swimming pool complex.
In the meantime, the council has requested up to $420,000 in state funding to provide a free bus service from Walgett to Collarenebri swimming pool, which is around 75km away.
Member for Barwon, Roy Butler has called on the government to audit aging swimming pools across the state.
"I've spoken to the Minister for Local Government and the Minister for Sport about doing an audit of those pools and I've also taken it up with Royal Life Saving Australia...to get them to pull together a report that priortises pools so the government can priortise allocation of funds," Mr Butler said.
Prof Ian McShane, at the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT has been following the deterioration of public pools for 15 years. He said losing a pool is losing a vital part of a town's social fabric.
He said, the closure of a pool would mean people might look elsewhere to live. "It can be a tipping point," he warned.
To read the full story go to the ABC News website.
(Source: story by Jennifer McCutcheon and Lily Plass at ABC Western Plains. Pictured: an aerial view of the Walgett pool.)
Editor's note: if anything is going to prove that the Governments based in Sydney and Canberra don't really care about the regions, take a look at the funding that was granted to upgrade the North Sydney Olympic Pool seven years ago.
The final cost to upgrade that pool was $122 million, which is more than double the original quote for the works of $58 million. It took five years to complete the work with the upgrades including a heated 50m saltwater outdoor pool, a 25m indoor pool, a modern gym, a spa, a sauna, a steam room, a children's splash pool, and a sundeck.
And to add "salt to the wound", this same pool benefited back in 2019 from $10 million in Federal funding that was earmarked to upgrade "regional and remote pools" under the Morrison government.
At the time, there was quite an uproar over North Sydney Council claiming it was "regional" and therefore entitled to the funding, despite its location beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The North Sydney Mayor at the time, Jilly Gibson said the North Sydney Pool was "definitely a regional facility" and they were entitled to the lion's share of the funding - and they got it. What a joke!!
I believe that $10 million in Federal funding that was "stolen" from the regions by North Sydney Council, should now be repaid with all or part of that funding spent on rebuilding the Walgett Memorial Swimming Pool.
Over to you, North Sydney Council.
