Clovelly Residents Raise Concerns About Local Pool

By Siriol Dafydd on May 2, 2018 in News

Rare blue ocean stones, by Amanda Pickstone.

If you’re a Clovelly local, the joy of finding light blue bits floating around at the shallow end of the beach is a tale as old as time. One minute you’re frolicking in the shallow water, minding your own business, the next you’re mesmerised (and somewhat confused) by the cyan segments residing amongst the seaweed, stones and sand. At first glance they look quite exotic and maybe even a little bit special, but then you realise that it’s actually just tiny bits of paint peeling off the side of the manky ocean pool – there goes your crafty retirement plan of selling rare blue ocean stones on the black market.
Indeed, this has apparently been an issue in Clovelly for decades. A regular swimmer told The Beast that this problem existed when he was in the Nippers back in the 1970s! Now we’re not saying it’s akin to a great white shark stalking the beach on a weekly basis, or a massive oil tanker leaking nearby, but surely if this is a known issue – and it has been for quite some time – something could (and should) be done about it.
A concerned local, Amanda, fears that it boils down to a lack of care and maintenance for the pool.
“I previously lived in North Wollongong, where the ocean pool was emptied and pressure hosed weekly,” Amanda told The Beast.
“ The Wollongong and Port Kembla ocean pools are maintained by Council and have full time staff or lifesavers watching. As for Clovelly and the age of the pool, there’s no way I would swim in it. It’s not clean or maintained, and it’s not manned, which could be a safety issue.”
After contacting Randwick Council, Amanda received a call from the maintenance department confirming that they were aware of the issue. They also confirmed that the pool, due to its age, was scheduled to be repaired and resurfaced, but in the interim measures had been put in place (a hessian bag over the drain) to collect the paint chips while the pool was being pressure hosed.
“Randwick Council knows how much regulars at Clovelly Ocean Pool love swimming laps in the relative shelter of Clovelly Beach,” a Randwick Council spokesperson told The Beast.
“Our staff conduct weekly cleaning and maintenance of the pool. Some paint chips were dislodged during a recent clean and as a result staff now install a filter bag over the pool opening valve in order to trap and prevent any foreign objects from entering the bay when cleaning occurs,” the spokesperson said.
When questioned about any refurbishment or repair plans, Randwick Council confirmed that they are currently in the process of looking into it and are discussing various options but cannot confirm any major upgrades at this stage.
It looks like potential change could be on the cards and the days of looking at paint samples during your morning swim at Clovelly may soon be a thing of the past. We’ll keep you posted.