![Brown Hill's 25 metre cold-water pool will soon exist only in memories. Picture by Adam Trafford Brown Hill's 25 metre cold-water pool will soon exist only in memories. Picture by Adam Trafford](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/204040383/f9c37c0e-849e-435b-8005-701812ffa67c.jpg/r0_244_4773_2927_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Brown Hill's outdoor public swimming pool will permanently close after City of Ballarat councillors decided it was not worth saving.
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A last-minute community push to stop the more than 50-year-old pool's proposed demolition failed to sway the vote at Wednesday night's council meeting, with the majority of councillors agreeing consultation had been "successful" and replacing the pool with a splash park was the most sensible option in the long-term.
Opposition to the pool closure - which is part of the Brown Hill Recreation Reserve Master Plan - dominated public question time as community members sought clarification around the transparency, accessibility and scope of the consultation process, and other data informing council officers' recommendation such as costings and usage rates.
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North Ward Cr and Deputy Mayor Amy Johnson used question time to highlight that the council's social media promotions inviting community feedback on the master plan did not mention the potential pool closure, despite this element of the plan being the "trigger point" for most people to engage.
Cr Johnson was one of three councillors to vote against the recommendation, calling it an "absolutely appallingly bad idea".
"We should not be taking away one of these key assets when the city is growing at such a rapid rate," she said.
![Fun at the pool in summer 2014. Fun at the pool in summer 2014.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/204040383/20f90c21-615f-4850-8c60-fe4b5081016d.JPG/r0_0_2772_1772_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
During debate over the master plan, the meeting heard the council previously tried to close the pool in 2003 but it stayed open after members of the Brown Hill Progress Association (BHPA) volunteered to take on its management.
The council gave the volunteers a "four-year lifespan," according to Mayor Cr Des Hudson.
Instead, they lasted some 15 years before "running out of puff," as BHPA secretary Brendan Stevens put it.
During the BHPA's tenure, the council gave the pool just two thirds of the funding other public pools across the city received, and "would not prioritise any upgrades," Mr Stevens said.
The master plan - which also includes an extended path network, play space and oval surface improvements - was "not completely what the BHPA wished for," Mr Stevens said - they "would have loved to see a whole new pool that was heated and covered in" and also asked for a skate park when first approaching the council for help.
![The pool was popular with families before it fell into disrepair. The pool was popular with families before it fell into disrepair.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/204040383/6a8c0964-3f06-4fa4-b721-043117095e83.JPG/r0_172_3227_2166_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
But the decommissioning of the pool and installation of a splash park was acceptable on the grounds it would "replace what is currently an eyesore with an asset," Mr Stevens said.
Councillors commented it was "sad" the pool had been allowed to "go to ruin" and that if the council had put more work and investment into it, its attendance figures would have been higher and its closure harder to justify.
Councillors also agreed the possibility of rebuilding the pool after its demolition - as many council and BHPA survey respondents expressly asked for - was remote, with other suburbs without aquatic facilities close by considered more suitable locations for a new facility.
"We all know if we remove it, it's never coming back," South Ward Cr Ben Taylor said.
![The cost of employing lifeguards was seen as a disadvantage of public pools when compared to splash parks. The cost of employing lifeguards was seen as a disadvantage of public pools when compared to splash parks.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/204040383/5e521059-4478-4324-9b5a-64914e74bb95.jpg/r0_92_4156_2576_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Community Wellbeing director Matt Wilson said an independent report in 2020 found the cost of upgrading the pool to an acceptable standard would be about $1.3 million, but that it "could well be more than that now".
Mr Wilson said the council's preferred splash park design was a "middle ground" option priced at about $1.5 million.
Mayor Cr Des Hudson acknowledged public pool closures were "always contentious" and "emotive" because of the "memories attached to them".
Cr Hudson said the new splash park would be a "fantastic asset" for Brown Hill and to boost recreation opportunities for children older than its target demographic, he "would revisit" the idea of a waterslide facility for Ballarat.
Council investigations found Brown Hill pool was the least visited pool in Ballarat and that citywide, splash parks received "far greater usage" than pools.
The officers' report noted Eureka Pool and Black Hill Pool are within 2.4 kilometres of the Brown Hill Pool, and a new indoor pool operated by the YMCA in nearby Water Street also provides swimming lessons.
Decommissioning the pool is estimated to cost $231,000.
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