Tim Bach
For decades, the outdoor swimming pools of Hepburn Shire have offered a place for people to gather, cool off, exercise, and connect. Built in the 1960s and ’70s, in the afterglow of the Melbourne Olympic Games, they have become familiar landmarks and are fondly remembered by many who learned to swim or spent long summer afternoons within their gates. Indeed, many will recall their parents walking to raise community funds to build the Daylesford pool.
But times are changing—and the way our communities use and fund public infrastructure needs to change with it. It’s time to take a clear-eyed look at the future of aquatics facilities in Hepburn Shire and ask: Are we getting the best value, access, and benefit from the way we provide swimming and recreation today?
The reality is that the Shire’s outdoor pools are ageing and expensive to maintain. They operate for just a few months each year—typically from December to March—and often close during periods of cool or inclement weather. Usage is seasonal and limited, and yet the cost to ratepayers is significant: approximately $1 million per year. According to council figures, that equates to a subsidy of around $20 per entry.
These figures pose serious questions for council and community alike: Is this model sustainable? Does it serve the whole community? And is there a better way to meet the needs of residents year-round?
Hepburn is far from alone in grappling with these questions. Across regional and rural Australia, communities are facing a growing crisis of ageing aquatic infrastructure. A 2023 report by the Royal Life Saving Society of Australia (RLSSA) found that around 500 public pools across the country will require major upgrades or full replacement within the next decade. The estimated national cost: $8 billion.
The cost burden falls heavily on local governments, many of which are already stretched thin. In our Shire, we are facing substantial budget cuts across the board – the budget for pool operations, slashed in 2024/25 has been cut by a further $50,000 in the current financial year. Our Council and most other rural councils are being forced to make difficult decisions—balancing heritage and sentiment with sustainability and service delivery.
In Hepburn Shire, one emerging option is to consider closing some—or all—of the existing outdoor pools, and instead, plan for a new, purpose-built indoor aquatics and recreation facility. The Hepburn Shire Aquatics Strategy adopted in 2022 recognised the “need” for a year round indoor aquatics centre to provide spaces for exercise and rehabilitation, learn-to-swim programs, and accessible facilities for older residents and people with disabilities.
Redirecting the $1 million currently spent on outdoor pool maintenance and operations could form the foundation of a community contribution fund. Over several years, this could be built into a credible funding base, strengthening the case for attracting state and federal government support. Selling underutilised sites could generate further capital.
Of course, these decisions are not simple. Local pools are more than just infrastructure—they are part of the fabric of our towns. For many residents, they are valued for their social and historical significance. Indeed, the Daylesford & District Memorial Swimming Pool, commonly known as the “Daylesford Olympic Pool” is registered on the National Register of War Memorials.
Some may worry that closing pools will leave smaller communities with no local swim option. Others may have concerns about accessibility or whether a new indoor facility would truly serve all corners of the of our disparate Shire.
Those concerns are valid, and any long-term plan must take them seriously. It may be that some pools can be retained and upgraded, while others are closed to free up resources. Presumably the long overdue Hepburn Shire Indoor Aquatics Provision Feasibility Study and Business Case will consider some of these options. (For reasons known only to Council, the final report of Solucio Consultants which considered this issue was postponed at the October 2024 meeting of Council and was to have been considered again at the March 2025 meeting of Council. The Report is still to be considered at Council and made available to the public.) Whatever the recommendations of the Feasibility study, it will take time—and a staged process—to move from the current model to a more sustainable one.
But one thing is clear: maintaining the status quo is not viable in the long term. The cost of repairing and operating ageing facilities will only rise, while usage is unlikely to increase significantly under current conditions. Community expectations have changed and the existing facilities no longer meet those expectations. Many residents—especially families and older people—are already driving to places like Ballarat or Kyneton for access to indoor, heated pools with better amenities. But for many other families, the time and expense is too great.
Council appears to be avoiding discussion of the issue. Importantly, the Draft Council Plan 2025-2029, which will likely be adopted at the Council meeting next week, makes no mention of aquatics services provision. But we need an honest, open discussion about the future we want. What kinds of facilities will best serve us—not just for the next five years, but for the next fifty? What are we willing to invest in? What trade-offs are we prepared to make? The questions goes to the heart of the health, safety and quality of life in Hepburn Shire.
Join us for discussion of these questions at the next in our series of Daylesford Conversations hosted by The Wombat Post and Daylesford Rotary – Thursday July 3 at 6:30 pm at 113 Main Rd, Hepburn.
Tim Bach is the Editor of The Wombat Post.
