Thursday, December 29, 2016

POOL season will extend if weather's hot in March


As many will recall, last summer the Pool closed in the midst of a heat wave!!!  The closure was as planned & scheduled, but it seemed illogical at the time.
There was understandable uproar from the local community.

BMCC has decided to allow the option for season extension in hot weather.
We were represented at the Council meeting of 13-Dec-2016 by FoBP&MP's convener Jennifer Kelly.

This report courtesy of local newspaper the Blue Mountains Gazette:

[Jennifer Kelly] told the council meeting of December 13 that residents were in an “uproar” when the pool shut on the first weekend in March as scheduled, as temperatures soared into the high twenties.

“In February this year, it was very hot and it was so hot that all of Blackheath was down at Blackheath pool,” she said.

“The weather continued into March but the pool didn’t and the uproar was enormous with people unable to understand why you would close a pool when it was so hot,” Ms Kelly added.

Historically, March has very low attendance at the pool, which is why the decision was made to bring the season forward in 2016. As well, staff employment contracts finished so it was not just a matter of continuing for a few more weeks or opening on hot days.

Councillors agreed to the potential extension at the only unheated pool in the Mountains.

Ward 1 Cr Kerry Brown said it was a good decision “for the comfort of Blackheatheans ...the pool is a great asset and the more we are able to have it open, the greater the possibility is to increase the use.”

Blue Mountains Gazette story in full here