History is littered with examples of struggling and aged pools across the municipality that we now know will require an investment of about $8 million to restore – and this would not be seen by a lot of people as a wise use of ratepayers’ funds.

But previous attempts to shut down neighbourhood pools – of which there are more in this city than any other in Victoria per capita, have been met with howls of protests from passionate community members who have an attachment to their existing pool, whatever state it may be in.

A decade ago, a similar move to close down suburban pools was dismissed after the voice of the people won over the council, and despite the completely rational and logical argument that it would be cheaper to close some pools and provide a bus service to others in return, the pools and their supporters won.

Fast forward to yesterday’s announcement and it is difficult to see how all 13 pools can survive when some are in such a state they are incapable of contributing to meeting future demand and growth.

Surely, the time has come for change.

The modern, state-of-the-art facilities promised in yesterday’s announcement can only come at high cost – a cost not just measured in dollars and cents, but in some community groups giving way to the future.