It was nothing fancy - just an above-ground pool from a retail store.

Thinking how many hours of fun we would all have in the backyard over the hot summer months, it was the perfect gift.

That is until recently, when someone from the City of Greater Bendigo came to our house and told us we had to empty the 11,000 litres of water out of the pool because it doesn’t have a pool fence.

We have seven days to comply or face a fine of up to $11,000, or we can empty the pool and pack it up. Merry Christmas, kids!

But in order to get the pool fence we have to get a permit from the council for the pool, then a building permit for the pool and the fence, and then a licensed builder to put in the fence and the pool and provide receipts for it all and the water.

It’s the sort of pool you pack up at the end of summer, so we don’t really want to pay thousands of dollars for a fence, and there is no way we will ever get council permits in seven days.

So what do we do? In good conscience I can’t let all that water go to waste in the middle of a drought.

We can’t put it in our rainwater tanks because it has chlorine in it and we can’t put it on the garden for the same reason.

We can’t afford thousands of dollars for pool fences and builders.

The worst part of it all is the sad, broken-hearted looks on the kids’ faces when we told them after Sunday the pool would be emptied and packed up never to be used again.

Our kids have swimming lessons every week and are confident swimmers. They are never allowed out in the pool without someone watching and the pool is only 80cm deep.

I just wonder how many people bought their pool, filled it with their garden hose despite water restrictions and are enjoying their time in the water.

For the record we did price pool fences, but could never have them installed within the seven days’ time frame and the cost is three times what we paid for the pool.

RENEE MEGGS, Goornong