Warilla Pool, along with Albion Park Pool, may have extended seasons in 2026. Photo: Shellharbour City Council.
As spring and autumn temperatures continue to rise, a plan has been floated to extend the swimming season of Albion Park and Warilla pools well beyond summer.
Put forward by councillor Kellie Marsh at a recent Shellharbour City Council meeting, the motion seeks to provide an urgent report about the cost of extending the Albion Park and Warilla pool seasons as a trial for the entirety of the spring and autumn school holiday periods in 2026.
If approved, the plan would see the two pools open until 19 April when term two holidays ended, and then reopened on 26 September when term three began – significantly increasing operational timeframes.
While the original motion was to only include Albion Park, Cr John Davey asked to add Warilla to the motion.
Cr Marsh said with the region experiencing increasingly hot temperatures – reaching 37 degrees Celsius in October – accessible swimming facilities became crucial for community wellness.
“There’s been a lot of calls from the community to open Albion Park pool all year round. We simply can’t afford it,” she said.
“With Albion Park, Tullimbar, Calderwood and Yellow Rock, it’s the hottest part of our city, and yet we don’t have a pool open for the school holidays with the autumn and the spring school terms.
“We’ve spoken tonight about getting kids off iPads and getting them into other activities, and a pool provides a safe environment for families and for children to go to.”
She said she understood it would come at a cost and had spoken to a council director about it being part of an aquatics working study already being undertaken so it could be looked at holistically.
“This is about, basically, just getting a costing to see if we can do it, and obviously then when the report comes back to council, if this is accepted tonight, if we have the appetite to do it,” she said.
“There’s ways we can offset some of the costs.
“Our aqua aerobics programs are full. We have people calling for more days and more times for aqua aerobics programs.
“This could open up that opportunity for community.”
Cr Davey said he was keen to support it for the investigation into looking at the cost.
“The subsequent decision will depend on the report that comes back to council, because it may be an exorbitant cost, so I’m interested to see what that is,” he said.
“I’m not sure when that report would come back, but I do note in November we do have an offsite for the delivery program and capital works program, and we will be discussing costs and other matters at that forum.”
He said in all, he thought it was a great initiative and one he fully supported.
“We’ve got to get our kids more active, and as active as we can, and provide the facilities and amenities for them,” he said.
“Thank you for adding in Warilla, which sits in the area of the most socially disadvantaged members of our community.”
Cr Mitch Ellis said he supported it, dependent on the cost.
It was unanimously supported, with it now progressing to a detailed cost assessment by council staff.
Albion Park and Warilla pools reopened on 1 November, and are open seven days a week from 6 am to 6 pm.
