Ground broken on Drysdale pool

CONSTRUCTION of a $15.5 million outdoor pool has officially begun as representatives from local and federal government broke ground on Peninsula Drive in Drysdale.

The eight-lane, full length 50-metre pool serving as stage one of the Drysdale Sporting Precinct is one of City of Greater Geelong’s priority projects and upon completion will become suitable for learn to swim classes, water exercise classes, and local and school carnivals.

“This facility is now coming to fruition,” Geelong deputy mayor Trent Sullivan said on Thursday last week.

“For too long Northern Bellarine residents have had limited access to aquatic facilities across our municipality and now that is being addressed and fixed.”

Cr Sullivan said up to 60 construction jobs would be created during the delivery of the outdoor pool and would serve as a tremendous tool in minimising preventable water-related deaths around the region.

“All statistics we have over the last 10 years shows that preventable child deaths via drownings are increasing, which is a shocking statistic for a country bordered by oceans.

“To have a full 50m facility built right here that caters to the Northern Bellarine and over 3,500 students who will have direct access to the facility is an incredible boon to not only water safety, but also to schools hosting swimming events without having to drive to the center of Geelong.”

Victorian Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson, who made a $10 million election commitment towards the project in 2019 for the project, expressed her gratitude to the city and former mayor (and now Liberal candidate for Corangamite) Stephanie Asher for their efforts in kickstarting the project.

“I want to thank the city and of course the efforts and leadership of Stephanie Asher for her extraordinary leadership as mayor, helping drive this project.

“The new facility will be equipped with changerooms, a kiosk, beautiful spectator lawns and and Kane Construction assures me that they will get all the measurements right in making the facility compliant with Olympic standards and potentially be a venue for the Commonwealth Games.”

The start of construction on the outdoor pool at the centre turns attention to Corangamite Labor federal member Libby Coker’s advocacy for an indoor 50-metre pool, which Senator Henderson again labelled last week as “nothing more than a cruel hoax”.

Ms Coker estimated taxpayers and ratepayers would pay $50 million more over the pool’s 30-year lifespan than they would for an indoor 50-metre pool complex. “In my view this is financially irresponsible, and it has only been driven by politics rather than sensible infrastructure planning,” she said.

“We could have a full indoor pool complex built in one go with all of the allied health services, without the exorbitant cost. Labor has committed $20 million towards an indoor pool, so an Albanese Labor Government would urge the City of Greater Geelong council to use that funding responsibly by amending its current building plans and construct an indoor-outdoor hybrid aquatic complex in one go.”

The city is presently working to secure $45 million in joint funding from the Victorian and federal governments to deliver stage two of the centre.