'Disappointed': swimmers react to Tamworth Regional Council's decision to close Olympic Pool early

Tamworth Regional Council confirmed on Friday morning opening hours would be cut back at the Tamworth city pool from next week before it closes for the season on Monday, March 7, a month ahead of schedule.

Tamworth's Tania Walsh is part of the early morning swimming group who staged a creative protest aimed at council's sport and recreation manager this month.

She said there had been no consultation on the decision.

"We're disappointed, but the writing was on the wall," she told the Leader.

Council cited multiple reasons for the pool's early closure including staffing availability, low visitation numbers, financial reasons and cooler overnight temperatures.

Ms Walsh said she believes the main problem is council just doesn't have the staff.

"They're citing reasons such as temperature, but it's actually their staffing issues," she said.

"I think it's about having a choice. You go out to a restaurant and you want to dine where you want to dine. It's a great pool, it's a beautiful pool to swim in and it's just a really good atmosphere there.

"I live 20 minutes out of town and I drive in to be at the pool at 5.30am every morning."

Council's recreation manager Paul Kelly said outside of swimming club and pool user groups, visitation numbers had dropped to as low as a dozen people a day.

"There's a small number of very vocal people that are passionate about their pool and we love that, however we have to make decisions on behalf of the whole of the community," he said.

READ ALSO:

"There's 40,000 to 50,0000 people in Tamworth, not just 10 or 20 early morning swimmers."

He said maintaining the pool comes at a significant cost, which he estimated to be around $350,000 a year.

Ms Walsh said it was a case of history repeating itself, after pool users were left shocked last year when council announced the sudden closure of the pool weeks early.

Tamworth City Swimming Club president Narelle Burke said the group was disappointed by the decision and are still working through what it means for them.

Ms Burke said she had attended one meeting with council where they indicated they were assessing their options, but was only notified of the final decision yesterday.

"We will need to have further discussions with council," she said.

"We're very disappointed of course because that pool is our home pool."

Ms Walsh added that the community pays for its season passes, so they deserve to have the choice.

Council confirmed that all Tamworth City Swimming Club bookings will remain at Tamworth Olympic Pool next week, and Scully Pool will shut as scheduled, in early April.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: