AGEING swimming pools with a replacement price of at least $12 million each has councils across Victoria assessing the future of community facilities built in country towns amid the hype of the 1956 Olympics.
Loddon’s five pools are all more than 60 years old and council faces decisions in the next few years to find the money to maintain and upgrade the pools.
Last week, councillors endorsed a move by the Murray River Group of Councils to push the Federal Government to establish a special fund.
The regional council group will seek backing from the National General Assembly of Local Government for the call “to establish a dedicated national fund to support local government to replace and upgrade public swimming pools by providing financial assistance to local councils for the repair, replacement, and upgrading of ageing public swimming pool facilities”.
Background notes by the Murray Group of Councils say pools are reaching the end of their effective lives and many require urgent investment. 
“Local government has for many years now wrestled with unaffordable running costs and ongoing maintenance.
“Many regional and rural councils have multiple outdoor concrete seasonal pools servicing widely spread, relatively small populations. The overall importance of these facilities means that closure is not an option for many.
“It is estimated that $8 billion will be required over the next decade to meet the infrastructure demands of public swimming pools across Australia. Safe, accessible swimming pools are crucial to public health, not just for recreational swimming, but also for essential life-saving skills such as swimming and water safety education. Access to well-maintained public pools is fundamental in teaching water safety and survival skills, and helps to prevent tragic accidents.
“Swimming pools provide a social function offering a space for community to gather, engage in activities, and connect, especially important in rural and regional areas.
“In these areas, pools can serve as a vital resource for social cohesion and physical activity, fundamental to community wellbeing.
“A significant funding investment over the next 10 years by Federal Government in partnership with local councils would see Australian public swimming pools remain a key part of our communities for the next 50 years”
The move will be debated when the assembly meets in June.