Aquatic centres provide numerous benefits for communities.  Seniors can access hydrotherapy and young people can learn how to swim, save lives and have fun.  People keep fit and healthy through the low intensity exercise that swimming provides.  More than this though, aquatic centres are great places for communities to come together.

I was concerned when it was recently brought to my attention that many of my constituents in the City of South Perth area, young and old, are missing out on these benefits because of a lack of local public aquatic facilities.

While other local government areas in Swan including the Town of Victoria Park, City of Belmont , City of Canning and the City of Gosnells all have, or are in the process of constructing high quality aquatic facilities for their residents, the City of South Perth has no such facility.

People have told me that neighboring facilities are too far away to use – this is particularly a problem for the elderly.  There is a swimming pool at Wesley College in South Perth which is used by some, however this is a private facility which has very limited access for the general public and is often overcrowded.

These are the reasons why I am supporting a public aquatic centre for the City of South Perth.  I have suggested the aquatic centre could be coupled with the George Burnett Leisure Centre in Karawara, although there may be better options available.  This location would have the benefit of being easily accessible to the Manning, Salter Point, Como and Karawara communities which would well use the facilities, as well as being close to the development of the shopping centre at Waterford.

I have been distributing surveys in the community and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

While the council would have to initiate the project, community projects like this do usually receive significant contributions from State and Federal sources.

You can have your say, register your support or suggest a location by completing my online survey