MALENY swimming pool was forced to remain closed this year despite finding a successful candidate to operate the facility because of a critical shortage of affordable accommodation in the area.
The pool, which is owned by the Department of Education, has not been opened since March 2021 with the swimming committee struggling to find a qualified candidate to run the facility.
While a suitable person was found earlier this year, they were unable to start because of a lack of housing – there was not a single suitable property for the candidate.
The club, which had hoped to open in February this year, is now hopeful of opening in August.
In the meantime, swimmers are forced to drive to either Conondale or Beerwah to do laps.
Sunshine Coast Council Division 5 councillor Winston Johnston said he would love to see a community pool built by the council, but the most recent population count did not meet guidelines for a new pool.
“We’ll see what happens once the census figures come out in July,” he said.
“Then I’ll re-prosecute the situation and see if hopefully we can argue for a council facility.”
