Inclusive works for aquatic centre

BETTER accessibility is set to be delivered for the Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre thanks to funding between the State Government and the City of Ballarat.

Nearly $1 million is being supplied with almost $750,000 through the former’s Regional Community Sports Infrastructure Fund and the remainder through the municipality.

Member for Wendouree, Juliana Addison, announced the development at the site on Tuesday morning and said it will make the facilities, particularly its changerooms, more inclusive for the disabled community.

“A lot of us don’t really think about changerooms,” she said. “For a lot of people in our community, that is not their reality.

“Whether it be the wonderful staff and students at the Ballarat Specialist School who I know love [coming here,] it is really challenging if the facilities are not fit for purpose.”

The upgrades are set to boast two new Changing Places-compliant facilities, three sensory friendly change rooms, as well as automated door functions for the current facilities, main entrance, and the centre’s cafe.

Mayor, Cr Des Hudson estimated around 670,000 people visited the site last year.

The municipality’s disability advisory committee were part of formulating the project, which included consultation with centre users as well as groups like Pinarc Disability Support and the Ballarat Autism Network.

“The inception for this project came from people with lived experience,” said the centre’s aquatic and leisure services manager Gerald Dixon.

“[It was] by us going and asking the question what’s your experience with the aquatic centre and what would you like to see us do?

“The feedback initially wasn’t great, and one of the things identified was changing rooms. Not only were they in a poor state but people couldn’t access them.

“Each [Changing Places room] will have a hoist and a change table. One is currently designed to have a direct all-access. The rest of our accessible changerooms will have sliding doors.

“It’s about making sure the experience for all our residents including people with disabilities, is seamless.”

No due date has been set for the upgrades.