An empty Helensburgh pool in August 2025. The community has just learnt it might not be refilled until the end of February. Photo: Zoe Cartwright.
It’s been a hot start to 2026, and for Helensburgh residents there’s little respite.
After two heatwave warnings in almost as many weeks, residents have learnt their pool will not reopen until late February.
Helensburgh Memorial Pool has offered locals and visitors a free escape from the heat for the past 56 years.
This year however the pool was closed for the start of summer to allow refurbishments to take place.
Residents were assured the pool would be completed before the January peak, traditionally the hottest month of the year.
A Wollongong City Council spokesperson said the council was disappointed about the delay, but it was outside its control.
“Unfortunately, a delay in the arrival of tiles essential to the pool refurbishment will push the much-anticipated opening date back to mid-to-late February 2026,” the spokesperson said.
“This supply issue has now been resolved and tiling is underway, however the unforeseen delay in the arrival of tiles has necessitated an extension in the timeline of works.
“Apart from this supply issue outside of the council’s control, the works have been progressing well and we can assure the community that we have consulted extensively with our contractor to explore all options to hasten the completion of works.”
Helensburgh Neighbourhood Forum convenor Warwick Erwin said the community had lost faith in their relationship with the council.
“They had two winter periods to do this in,” he said.
“The excuse is a delay in tiles, which should have been ordered two years ago or when work started in August.
“On the council website it said crews would work over the Christmas and new year period to get it done – we saw one foreman and one worker during that time.
“The community is fed up.”
It’s not the first time the council and the community have butted heads over the refurbishment.
In 2023 the community was consulted about proposed upgrades to the 54-year-old pool, which Wollongong City Council documents from the time show included a new 25 m pool with six lanes, an accessible, ramp-style entry and a water splash pad.
Earlier in 2025 the council announced works were scheduled to be completed before the January 2026 summer peak, however a new pool and a splash pad were no longer on the cards.
Instead the 25 m pool, toddlers pool and the male and female amenities will be given a refresh. New handrails will be installed, the concourse resurfaced and concourse lighting improved.
The Helensburgh community had concerns about the timeline of the refurbishment as early as August 2025, when work had not begun despite the pools being drained for some time.
Mr Erwin said the community felt a sense of ownership over the pool, which was half funded by donation after a septic tank spill closed many local swimming holes in the 1960s.
Large donations came from the Miners Federation, the Joint Coal Board, the Helensburgh RSL sub-Branch and local business community. Wollongong Council agreed to match them dollar for dollar.
“This year the council told us to go and cool off at the Coalcliff ocean pool or Corrimal,” Mr Erwin said.
“You have to pay to get into Corrimal, and there are people who don’t have transport, and it becomes very difficult.
“The local schools can’t do their swimming carnivals, swim school training can’t go ahead and older people who use it for therapies have had to find transport to a private pool at Engadine.”
Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown said she understood the community was disappointed with the delay, but the refurbishments were essential to ensure the pool would last for decades into the future.
“We’ve looked at every option we can to claw back time following the delay in tiles arriving, but our top priority is ensuring we do ultimately deliver a facility that is reliable and fit for purpose in 20 years’ time and beyond,” she said.
“The frustration this will cause is understandable, but we don’t want to compromise any aspect of the overall works … we appreciate the community bearing with us and enduring some short-term pain for a long-term gain.”
