Swimmers 'shocked' as city closes only outdoor winter pool in Bendigo

Claire Cooper, who travelled from Maldon to swim at the pool, has led a community effort to keep the pool open as a heated year-round facility.

She said she was surprised the decision to close the pool for winter on Friday, April 12 came so quickly.

"They had guaranteed us that Brennan Park [Swimming Pool] would be made into a heated all-year-round pool, " she said.

"But I imagined that they would have Brennan Park ready before they closed this.

"The fact that it's [Bendigo East] going to close in four weeks or five weeks actually comes with a bit of shock really."

According to the city's active and healthy communities manager Amy Johnston, the Bendigo East pool had become too expensive to keep gas-heated all year.

Current city plans propose to transform Brennan Park from a gas-heated seasonal facility to a solar-heated pool which would be open all year.

That development was expected to cost millions of dollars and was subject to funding, with the city hoping it could be completed by 2028.

Whether the pool could be open all year would be reviewed immediately after the work was done.

City council has said Bendigo East would re-open next summer and remain a seasonal pool until the Brennan Park redevelopment was completed.

Ms Cooper said she believes money could be spent to change the gas heating to solar at Bendigo East.

"They say that gas is really expensive, but that [solar] would solve that," she said.

Bendigo East Swimming Pool was the only 50m outdoor pool open in winter, meaning the region would have no outdoor winter pool until the Brennan Park was completed.

Both Ms Cooper and regular swimmer Jim Evans said they preferred the Bendigo East pool because adults could walk the whole length.

"You can walk from one end to the other without drowning," Mr Evans said.

"You can keep your head above the water and you don't get that at Faith Leech [Aquatic Centre]

"I can only go about a third of the way into the pool at Faith Leech before it goes to the waters over your head, so it's not as safe as this pool is here."

Mr Evans said he would also miss the social element of coming to the pool, especially in winter.

"I'm going to miss these people, the lifeguards, the people that come about time my wife and I come," he said.

"It's just very unfortunate, I think, so I hope council and officers have a rethink about what they're doing."

Swimmers with extended season passes at Bendigo East Swimming Pool could use the final month of their pass at the Faith Leech Aquatic Centre or contact the council for a refund.

Faith Leech Aquatic Centre closes for the season on May 12.