By Jennifer Kent
HINTERLAND families may have to sweat through another summer without access to local pools and swim clubs, with both Maleny Pool and Mooloolah Valley Pool unable to find suitable candidates for management of the pools, citing staffing issues across the board.
Both pools are owned by Education Queensland, located on school grounds and run seasonally.
It’s a disappointing blow for residents coming into warmer weather who are forced to travel away from the hinterland to access a public or community pool for exercise and leisure, however, opening the pools to the public has proved a difficult feat for the many volunteers working to secure appropriate candidates.
Earlier this year, Maleny Swimming Club announced they had secured a manager and were set to open in August this year, however, the club later announced the person contracted to open the pool was unable to meet their commitment.
Maleny Swim Club spokesperson Cath Lim shared it was a disappointing outcome however the club’s volunteers continue to explore the right kind of model which will both serve to provide the community with access to the pool and meet the requirements for the school.
“We understand how frustrating it is for the community, and it is just as frustrating for us on the committee,” Cath shared. “There are a lot of aspects that need to be met behind the scenes and we’re hopeful that we can find the right model and the right person to reopen the pool.”
It is a similar scenario in Mooloolah Valley, with the school’s P&C in negotiations with operators, who have cited lack of staff as their biggest hurdle.
Mooloolah State School P&C president Keith McConnell expressed disappointment with the pool unable to open at the scheduled date, but still hopes the pool is able to open to the public later in the season.
“We do this [open the pool to the public] for the community,” he said.
“While we won’t be opening at the start of school term as originally hoped, we are still in discussions to open the pool to the public in the future.”
Keith shared the P&C, along with the school, has been very proactive in the process behind the scenes: “We have a great P&C team that put in so much time and effort. We’re not giving up yet.”
There appears to be difficulty finding suitable swimming teachers and instructors all round. The seasonal nature of the position with split hours outside of school operating times, and being full time for part of the year, seemingly adding to the diffculty of securing staff.
While the schools receive funding through grants to operate the pools to the public, they are not on council-owned property. It is unclear if local Swim Clubs will operate this season, disappointing for those who now have to travel away from the hinterland to join a club.
Main image: Mooloolah Valley swimming pool