Keep our pools open in drought | Kimberley Squires, Tamworth Triathlon Club

The impact our council pools have on our good health can't be ignored.

We are fortunate in this region to benefit from the foresight of previous councils that have planned and provided council pools for our community.

The drought certainly throws a spanner in the works in keeping these operational ... however ... surely the health of our community must be prioritised in finding the funds and the water to keep them operational in our hottest months.

We need to explore more options for keeping our pools open in the summer.

I'm sure sporting groups and swim clubs would be keen to work together to explore better options than closing pools; funding for trucking water, better pool covers to minimise evaporation and funding for pool maintenance. Our driest hottest conditions ever is not the time to close our pools.

We know that exercise is imperative for good health. We know that if we exercise with our children they are less likely to get cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental health conditions and a whole raft of other conditions.

We also know that a large percentage of community members who use the pools use them to maintain good health. The pools play a key role in the management for conditions such as depression, anxiety, rehabilitation and arthritis.

The number of children that use our pools in the summer for play, for swim squads, water polo and simply cooling off is in the multiple thousands. Where do they go on 40 degree days in the afternoons after school if not to the pool? Indoors. The computer? The TV? We need to do everything we can to keep our children and our families active in the summer. This means looking outside the square, and fighting to keep our pools operational.

We're with you council, our sporting clubs want to help. Let's together keep our pools open.

Droughts are hard ... but our health must come first.

Kimberley Squires,

Tamworth Triathlon Club