After a complicated five months of back and forth, a visit from the NSW Premier led to the announcement that Walgett residents can expect their pool to reopen before Christmas. 

In July, it was announced that the pool would be decommissioned after years of temporary fixes were proving futile and expensive, often pausing or cutting swimming seasons short. 

While at the time, some parties said that forfeiting a swimming season to get a new pool was necessary, the decommission was soon cancelled, as the council decided to make short term repairs to the pool so that Walgett locals had a safe place to swim over the summer months. 

Since it was announced repairs on the 60 year old pool would take place, the council has faced a number of setbacks, but now are ahead of schedule and set to reopen next week. 

Walgett Shire Council mayor Jasen Ramien said that a new pool is still on the cards for Walgett. 

“This is only a short-term solution, and the community should expect some cosmetic changes in and around the pool, however providing a place for the community to cool down is paramount,” Cr Ramien said. 

In the coming year, a determination from the council will be decided on the future of the pool, and whether it will be completely replaced. 

“The pool is at the heart of the community, and it is an important piece of infrastructure that helps bring people together and ensure wellbeing for our residents and visitors during the heat.”

In the meantime, the local swimming club has found their own temporary solution, with swimmers opting to travel to Coonamble or Lightning Ridge each week. 

“We didn’t want to miss the opportunity of getting our kids in the water for the last month…so there was lots of carpooling, mums helping mums and dads helping dads,” Walgett Swimming Club head coach Bec Wilson said. 

“There was a lot of discussion about ‘why bother’ for four weeks…but we’re already out of the water six months of the year.”

“Whatever progress it feels like we make in the summer is undone again because we never hit the water in the winter…we start on the backfoot every summer.”

The pool received $375,000 in funding from the state government, which was used to repair expansion joints, patch water leaks and cracks, refurbish the sand filtration system, and make safety improvements. 

Once the pool opens, all lanes will be available to swimmers, while a section of the cement concourse surrounding the pool will remain cordoned off.