Men Who Swim

[historical] The Sydney Morning Herald, 21-Dec-1936

 BLUE MOUNTAINS.

 "Playground of Australia.”

ATTRACTING TOURISTS

"The Government aims at making the Blue Mountains the playground of Australia," said the Minister for Local Government (Mr. Spooner) at a civic reception at Blackheath on Saturday. 

Mr. Spooner visited Blackheath with a four-fold object - officially to open the children's playground, in Jubilee Park, to turn the first sod of the Blackheath sewerage scheme, to switch on the electric lighting of the Memorial Park, and to inaugurate the flood-lighting of the swimming pool. 

To encourage tourists to Blue Mountains resorts, said Mr. Spooner, the Government had subsidised the Blackheath Council to the extent of £10,000 to enable works costing £20,000, comprising tar paving, road construction, park improvements, stormwater drainage construction, and provision of pleasure grounds. 

The Minister said the Government was country-minded and developmental in outlook. It was helping to develop inland towns on a subsidised basis. The health of the residents and the visitors to a district was of paramount importance. The public was entitled to protection against unhealthy or insanitary conditions, and it was a fair thing for the taxpayer generally to pay some proportion of the cost. 

The Blue Mountains, he said, were being popularised by the provision of better roads, faster train services, and the cheapening of hotel and other accommodation. 

The Mayor of Blackheath (Alderman W. Cripps), speaking at the sewerage inauguration ceremony, said the cost of the sewerage scheme was estimated at £67,000, of which the Government would contribute £25,867. A loan to cover the council liability of £41,133 was being raised. Repayment of the loan would be over a period of 45 years, in equated half-yearly instalments of principal and interest at 3J per cent, amounting to £911. The town of Blackheath had a population of 2554, and it was anticipated that, with a modern sewerage system, material progress would be shown in the future. The work would absorb 30 men immediately, and 200 in a few weeks' time. 

Among the large attendance were the former Minister for Works and Health (Mr. Weaver), the Mayor of Katoomba (Alderman W. Soper), the President of the Blue Mountains Shire (Councillor W. P. Mathews), the Deputy Mayor of Blackheath (Alderman H. P. Collier), the town clerk of Blackheath (Mr. F. C. Taylor), and the Town Clerk of Blue Mountains Shire (Mr. Pedder Scrivener). 

At a civic dinner, Councillor Mathews advocated the formation of a County Council for the Blue Mountains. 

During his visit to Blackheath Mr. Spooner, who was accompanied by Mrs. Spooner, motored to the various resorts, including Govett's Leap, the road to which: has been tar-paved. He watched the diving and swimming competitions in the flood-lit swimming pool. 

Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 21 December 1936

Retrieved 24-May-2011 from http://trove.nla.gov.au 

TEDxSydney@BANC 28 May 8AM-6PM

This event is FREE.

If you’d like to attend you may REGISTER at www.tedxsydney.com/site/satelliteEvent.cfm
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BM Gazette "Blackheath Pool plans scuttled by council"

Blackheath Memorial Park is a most beautiful public park - sweeping lawns & mature rhododendrons surround three kids play areas, a duck pond & free BBQ facility.  But without adequate PUBLIC TOILETS it's underused by families & does not fulfill Council's stated aims for Child Friendly City either.

This is why FoBP&MP suggested Council look at ways to better utilise existing facilities within The Pool Pavilion.  Currently these are closed to the public for eight months & open only during the four-month swimming seeason December to March each year.

BM Gazette article "Blackheath Pool plans scuttled by council" 18-May-11**
**NB the original BMCC Capital Works budget for the stand-alone toilets (which remains extant as result of this last Council meeting decision) is *$400K* - not $300K - as stated in this Gazette article!!
Even more reason to open access to Pavilion toilets.

Park TOILETS issue at Council 10-May-11

BACKGROUND
Two years ago, Council’s own proposal to spend $400,000 on brand new toilets at Blackheath Memorial Park prompted FoBP&MP to suggest sharing the existing TOILETS at Blackheath Pool, consequently SAVING Council perhaps $300,000.  So, in March last year, Council requested a Report to look into this matter.   FoBP&MP found the resulting report inadequate.  So we suggested a deferral of any decisions, ahead of a more considered report, with a more creative solution.

AT COUNCIL 10-May-11
The Memorial Park / Blackheath Pool fence line & year-round access to toilets matter came back to Council last Tuesday.  Sadly it didn’t go as we hoped.

FoBP&MP felt the report in the Business Paper & Option B (the recommendation) lost the central notion of our suggestion – to share the Pavilion toilets with Park users.

So we spoke against the recommendation, & Cr Gibbs raised a deferral motion on our behalf – requesting a more in depth report.  Cr Mays seconded this deferral motion.

Ward 4 Crs Greenhill & Creed spoke strongly against our deferral motion.
They persisted in seeing our position as a proposal to SPEND MORE on Blackheath Pool, & seemed unable to conceive that we were bringing a matter to Council that would SAVE money.
Four Councillors were absent – Crs Hamilton, McLaren, Luchetti & Clark - however the debate lasted a good half hour!!
Their position won.
No deferral, and report recommendations rejected.

This means the $400K allocation remains in Capital Works forward estimates for 2012-13 for a new separate toilet block.
And this proposed new toilet block remains in the Park Plan of Management.
So we don’t feel this is a huge loss.

We are forging links with those involved in the Child Friendly City proposals (adequate toilets being critical to kid-friendly parks) AND hope to revisit this matter, possibly in tandem with a ‘centenary of WW1’ rejuvenation of the Memorial Park.