Maleny District Sport & Recreation Club Community Newsletter
Monday, 21 September 2020
Maleny District Sport & Recreation Club Community Newsletter
Maleny Pool Built for the Community By the Community 37 years ago, following an enormous community fund-raising effort to build a pool for the families of Maleny, a large crowd gathered for the official opening of the Maleny Swimming Pool. Built on land owned by Education Queensland, the highlight of that March 1983 day was seeing Olympian Tracey Wickham swim the first two laps of honour in the new pool!
In 1984 Maleny swimmers started competitive swimming and the Maleny Swimming Club Inc. was formed in 1992. In the pool grounds stands a granite rock bearing the wording “Built for the Community – By the Community”. But fast forward to 2020 and the Maleny Pool, like so many venues and organisations, has been impacted by the effects of the Corona virus. The resultant cancelling of fund-raising activities due to Covid restrictions meant that a real crisis was reached last
month, as the Maleny Swim Club committee, who operate the pool under lease from the Sunshine Coast Council, were not in the financial position to offer a contract to a coach/manager for the upcoming summer season. President of Maleny Swimming Club Gail Ring explained. "The annual council grant does not fully cover the coach/managers contract, so club fund raising is what we do each year for the remaining payment to the coach, our share of electricity, our share of servicing of heat pumps, any breakdowns etc. and now because of additional Covid safety requirements, we also need to pay the coach/manager an extra payment towards the cleaning fee.”
With their 2020 fund-raising opportunities cancelled at community events such as the Maleny Show, and with the annual
Maleny District Sport and Recreation Club Inc
Council funding not due for release until January 2021, the committee reached out to Cr Winston Johnston and local MP Andrew Powell to intervene, making it clear that without help, there would be no pool operating for the public this summer. Many Maleny locals reacted to the bad news, also contacting both representatives. Andrew Powell moved quickly and in a statement said "Thank you to everyone who has written to me over the last week, bringing to my attention the Maleny Pool. Your community spirit in Maleny never ceases to amaze me! I have worked with the school principal as well as the Department of Education to waive fees, undertake maintenance and prepare the pool for our warm seasons which are fast approaching. Councillor Winston Johnston and I have worked to make the regular operating payments to the Swimming Club upfront rather than arrears. As a result, the club will shortly be advertising for a pool manager and it shouldn't be long before the pool is open again.” Cr Johnston https://malenysportandrec.org.au/