The opening hours of the children’s pool at Eastern Beach will be extended, after the City of Greater Geelong copped some community backlash on its original summer plans for the facility.
The City revealed on Friday last week the kids pool would only be open between 11am-7pm each day up until the end of January, to allow full supervision of the pool.
COGG said the plans were in place following an increase in drownings across Victoria last summer and up to 10,000 visitors expected daily.
Many community members voiced their frustration at the plans, saying the opening time was far too late and the decision was “short-sighted.”
Councillors called for an urgent review into the decision, with the City this week announcing a slight change to the original plans.
The pool will now open at 9am each day until the end of January but still close at 7pm, with the change to be implemented from Boxing Day.
“We’ve listened to your feedback about the opening hours of the Children’s Pool at Eastern Beach,” COGG said in an announcement online.
“We understand that you want longer opening hours for the Children’s Pool, which is why we’re pleased to announce that we have worked with Life Saving Victoria to extend the supervised hours by an additional two hours per day, from 9:00am – 7:00pm, from Thursday (Boxing Day) until the end of January 2025.”
“The pool still needs to be closed when not supervised.
“The national industry standard for aquatic facilities has different safety requirements for chlorinated pools as opposed to beaches – which is why the Children’s Pool has been fenced when the beach is not.
“With growing popularity and usage of the area along with an increase in drownings across the state, the City is taking reasonable steps to ensure public safety.
“We recognise that not everyone will agree with the steps that we’ve taken, but these concerning statistics leave us with no choice.
“We ask everyone to be respectful towards our staff who will enforce this decision by locking the pool gates, and who will be supervising the area to make sure everyone can return home safely at the end of the day.”
