Jenny Bailey is heading a group of concerned residents to build a new hydrotherapy pool in Armidale.
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Backed by MP Adam Marshall, the working party will meet for the first time next week to begin planning.
“Most people I’ve spoken to are keen to be involved,” Mrs Bailey said.
“Of all the things I’ve ever been involved with in Armidale there is more passion involved in this pool than anything else I’ve ever done.”
Mrs Bailey was forced to give up her role as supervisor at the existing pool, within the Armidale Hospital, due to not being able to meet new training requirements.
The move caused almost all volunteers to pull the pin – and it wasn’t the only issue.
The 40-year-old pool shut in January due to water quality problems and, while it reopened this month, there are still significant uncertainties about its future.
Mrs Bailey said building a pool away from the hospital would solve a lot of bureaucratic issues, and make the facility more accessible to the general public.
“It means we can have a pool that is open more often and hopefully open into the evening so people who work can use it,” she said.
Mr Marshall has invited representatives from the University of New England, Hunter New England Health and the Armidale Lions Club to the first meeting on August 5.
“Adam is interested in scoping out a site,” Mrs Bailey said.
“All the feedback I’ve had so far suggests somewhere in the middle of town would be ideal if we could get it.
“We need to look at size and also what we will require in the pool.”
She said they were hoping for it to be as big as Tamworth’s hydrotherapy pool.
“In order to make enough money to keep it running we need to allow for maximum numbers in the pool at all times,” she said.
“If you’re wall-to-wall, you obviously can’t exercise so it needs to be big enough to accommodate big numbers.”
Mrs Bailey said, in her opinion, a good site would be adjacent to the town pool – in the car park.
“It’s fairly big and we could have the building there and still have part of that car park available,” she said.
“There also might be room on the otherside to provide more parking space.”
Mrs Bailey said benefits of the town pool location included being able to utilise the staff and infrastructure.
It would also give pool staff, who are made “virtually redundant” during the winter months, ongoing employment.
“Adam has written to council but we don’t know and haven’t had a response,” Mrs Bailey said.
As for the cost?
“I don’t know the cost, I really don’t, but that’s all part of the working party brief,” she said.
“I imagine we’ll allocate certain things to find out to certain people.”