Rochester lap swimmer Judy Anderson is leading the charge and is hoping her approach to the Campaspe Shire results in her community having access to a pool for the first time since the end of the 2021-22 swim season.
“I think it is fair and compensates the people of Rochester in some way for not having any aquatic services last year,” Mrs Anderson said.
“Last year they (Campaspe Shire) made the big statement that all outdoor pools were free. That was wonderful, except we didn’t have a pool.”
Mrs Anderson, and her husband Peter, are among the early morning swimmers that have been left without a pool in their home town as a result of the pool being closed for the entire 2022-23 swim season.
She has written to the shire proposing it provide free used of the 50 metre-eight land pool to members of the community who missed out on an entire swim season because of the closure of the Rochester facility.
The pair have used the Rochester pool for many years during the summer swim season and had been excited about the potential for expanded use of the facility given the mid-2022 announcement that entry to all Campaspe Shire outdoor pools would be free.
Rochester pool was one of seven included in the free entry program for the 2022-23 swim season, while resulted in Kyabram, Rushworth, Lockington, Tongala, Stanhope and Colbinabbin significantly increasing usage between November and March.
Mrs Anderson said she and her husband were unable to take advantage of the free entry offer during last season, but we were too involved in repairing their own flooded house and her brother’s home to travel outside of the town.
She raised the issue at last week’s Community Chat breakfast, having recently discovered that the future of the flood-damaged pool was uncertain — at best.
Mrs Anderson said giving Rochester people free entry to the heated pool at Echuca was a last resort as she had been unable to “get any sense out of anyone about a new pool” for Rochester.
New pools do not appear to be on the Campaspe Shire radar, given that in January last year a recommendation was made to steadily decommission the seven outdoor pools of the shire.
“It wasn’t too long ago that they wanted to get rid of them all. I think it is vital for our little town to still have access to a pool,” Mrs Anderson said.
“It will not cost the shire anything and may well add to the Echuca economy. People travelling to Echuca for the pool will probably stop at a coffee shop, buy lunch or something else.”
Mrs Anderson’s husband is one of the many residents involved in the town’s early morning and lunch time swimming program.
He attempts to complete 1000 laps of the 50-metre pool at Rochester every summer, assisting him from a physical and mental health point of view.
Mrs Anderson said it was obvious that Rochester was not going to get a pool for another couple of years — at a minimum.
“We need to act now for people’s mental and physical health,” she said.
“It would be nice to offer free entry to Rochester people.”
Mrs Anderson said after initial discussions with flood-recovery personnel Lachlan Couzens and Tanya McDermott, along with Campaspe Shire Rochester ward councillor Paul Jarman, she decided to push ahead with the idea.
“All three agreed in principal with the concept, which was enough for me to approach the shire,” she said.
Mrs Anderson said there were many people in Rochester that really missed their swimming.
“I’d love to hear from people who would take up the opportunity to travel to the Echuca heated pool if this was made available to them,” she said.
“If we get enough numbers it would be good to organise transport to the pool.”
