Pools already at saturation point
MELBOURNE is more or less overflowing with public swimming pools. although the CBD has only one (the Melbourne City Baths), the plethora of pools around the city – North Melbourne, Fitzroy, Carlton, Prahran, Richmond, and the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in South Melbourne – are within easy reach and ensure most people of the population have somewhere to take the plunge. Besides, there is the not inconsiderable shoreline of Port Phillip Bay, if one prefers sand and saltwater to concrete and chlorine.
Is there any need, therefore, for a new pool? A local consortium, Birrarung Pools and Melbourne Lifeform Development, clearly thinks so. its proposal for a ‘’special purpose community pool and aquatic and fitness centre adjacent to the Yarra River” is also believed to be above it – in the form of an elevated outdoor pool. the consortium says the response from ”a number of major enterprises in the city has been overwhelmingly positive”. the proposed site, west of the Melbourne Aquarium at Batman Park, is already flanked by railway and traffic bridges, not to mention the sprawl of Crown Casino on the south bank.
Although it could be argued that a new pool would make little difference, this misses the point that another commercial development by – or above – the banks of the Yarra means less of one of this city’s natural resources will be available for public use. the Yarra Riverkeepers Association is right when it says ”proposals to cover any part of the river and its grassed banks should be refused”. the Melbourne City Council, which will this week hold informal discussions about the proposal, is said to be tepid about it. this is hardly surprising, since it is only 18 months since the council pulled the plug on the plage: a surreal proposal of its marketing and development committee to build a ”temporary beach” on the banks of the Yarra during summer, a la the Seine, in Paris. The Age said then that the Yarra banks require no such artificial embellishment and should be left green and serene.
The same goes for the pool idea. while it is true the resident population of the CBD has increased sharply in recent years, to around 18,000, and that an estimated 750,000 people come into the city every day, this does not necessarily mean that a new pool is essential to their lifestyles or demands, particularly when there are so many other places to swim. If another public pool must be built in the city, there are surely other, more appropriate, locations than by the Yarra.
Pools already at saturation point