The ACT government is proposing to allow the management of Civic and Tuggeranong to impose a lane shortfall charge on clubs hiring lanes at Civic and Tuggeranong Pool.
The shortfall applies if clubs have less than 10 swimmers in a 50 m lane of 5 in a 25 m lane. It is an extra charge levied on clubs for each swimmer less than 10 in the lane. This is in addition to the amount the clubs pay for the lane hire and the pool entry paid by individual swimmers.
The effect of this charge will mean massive increases in lane hire for many clubs using the facilities. The alternative is less sessions or higher fees for parents.
The ACT has a strong swimming community with many swimmers in the top 10 in Australia for their age group. This is achieved through quality programs. Swimmers need time in the pool to achieve results and less time in the pool will ultimately lead to lower standards.
Higher fees will drive swimmers out of swimming, a great sport for life.
The rationale given by the government is that clubs are putting pressure on lane space in peak times, ie, early morning and late afternoons. The government also claims that people are staying away from the pools because the lanes are too crowded. As a regular swimmer at Civic Pool I find this hard to believe. Even when the club swimmers are in the pool, there are rarely more than 4 or 5 in each public lane. Hardly crowded and twice the number the government expects clubs to crowd into a lane.
Come on Andrew Barr let’s keep these kids in the pool.
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