Loddon Herald 2 December 2021

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www.loddonherald.com.au

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Loddon HERALD Vol 1 No 45 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021 ISSN 2653-1550

SHRINKING POOL By CHRIS EARL

MORE lifeguards are needed at Loddon pools. New manager Belgravia Leisure was forced late Friday afternoon to cut hours at most pools 24 hours before the season opening because of the shortage. The company says it needs at least 15 more lifeguards to have pools at Boort, Inglewood, Mitiamo, Pyramid Hill and Wedderburn fully open. “With a number of courses scheduled over the next few weeks we hope this will provide

NEW MANAGERS TACKLE LIFEGUARD SHORTAGE

enough qualified staff to open all sites and have a successful remainder of the summer,” the company said on Tuesday. Belgravia said it was now offering free first aid and lifeguard training and would hold lifeguard courses in Bendigo and one in Boort on December 15 and 16. “We have had 24 apply so far, but there are still spaces avail-

able. As each of these courses are completed we are gaining new staff for the Loddon pools,” it said. “As soon as these staff have been inducted and given some experience shadowing other lifeguards, we can start deploying them and increase the operating hours of the pools. “We anticipate that all pools

should be operating to their standard operating hours by Christmas.” Belgravia said 13 local pool staff from last summer had been joined by 10 new staff from the Loddon for the season opening. “The current availability of this team to work has been impacted by a large harvest that’s later due to weather, school commitments or the requirement to complete annual training,” the company said. Additional staff have come from Bendigo, Swan Hill and Melbourne. Belgravia said COVID restric-

tions and lockdowns had delayed lifeguard recruitment and training by up to three months across the state. Friday’s announcement surprised communities with some pools opening a few hours on weekdays and once at weekends. Loddon Shire awarded Belgravia the pool contract in September. A council spokesperson said: “Council is continuing to work closely with Belgravia Leisure, including promotional opportunities regarding the recruitment of lifeguards for the current pool season to ensure pools can return to regular operating hours.”

Taking first dips THE arrival of warm weather was perfectly timed for the opening of Loddon swimming pools at the weekend. Good attendances have been reported from the weekend when among the local lifeguards on duty were Aliza Lockhart and Shelby Coon at Inglewood. And Noah and Flynn Edwards (inset) wasted no time having their first dip of the pool season. LH PHOTOS

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