1st of February, 2025 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On Saturday the 1st of February, Legalise Cannabis Victoria held a pool party without a pool to protest the scarcity of public pools in the city’s west – parts of the west have only one pool for every 48,000 young people, compared to Melbourne’s CBD with a pool for every 5,000 youth.
Legalise Cannabis West Metro MP David Ettershank said the 2021 Infrastructure Victoria report shows that Werribee will only have one aquatic centre per 65,000 young people by 2036.
“That would be disgraceful, the west needs more pools,” Mr Ettershank said.
Melbourne’s west on average 6-13 degrees hotter
Legalise Cannabis candidate in the Werribee by-election Xavier Menta said research shows that Melbourne’s west is drier and hotter by an average of five degrees than the rest of Melbourne but this can climb to 13 degree hotter in summer.
“It’s scandalous that the hottest areas of Melbourne don’t have enough public swimming pools and are often a long commute to the beach,” Mr Menta said.
Poolside Paddle Pops are an Aussie rite of passage!
Federal senate candidate for Legalise Cannabis Victoria Fiona Patten said the lack of pools was bad for people’s health and wellbeing.
“Public swimming pools offer relief from heat and are also a hub of community connection and socialising, especially for young people,” she said.
“It’s an Australian rite of passage to meet your mates at the pool for a swim and a Paddle Pop. It breaks my heart that a generation of youth are being denied the joy of summer at the local pool because of the scarcity of aquatic centres in the west.
“The media is forever reporting on youth gang crime in the west, and the federal government has banned under 16-year-olds from social media.
“Let’s give young people something to do over summer, let’s build more pools so our teens can have a swim with their mates.
“Werribee/Wyndham is one of the fastest growing regions in Australia, it will be a national disgrace if there is only one large aquatic centre for every 65,000 young people in Werribee by 2036.”
West tree cover is 75 percent less than Melbourne’s SE
Mr Menta, who works as a horticulturist, said the western suburbs averaged less than 6 percent tree canopy, while the eastern suburbs averaged around 26 percent.
“Urban development has seen tree cover cut down and more buildings with heat-absorbing hard surfaces erected,” Mr Menta said.
“Melbourne’s western suburbs feel the full brunt of urban heat coming off poorly designed buildings, roads and footpaths – an ‘urban heat island’ effect, so the west more than deserves its share of public swimming pools.
Parts of Melbourne’s west have high drowning rates
Mr Ettershank said that according to Life Saving Victoria, Wyndham is ranked seventh for drownings in the state.
“This clearly indicates a need for more public pools offering swimming and water safety classes,” he said
“State and federal government must work with local councils to fund the construction of more pools.
“Hospital admissions during heatwaves are significantly higher for communities who live in disadvantaged areas, which includes many postcodes in the west, with people from low socio-economic backgrounds, seniors, and those with heart disease vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat.
“So, to the Allan and Albanese governments, we say jump in – the waters fine and build us some pools.”
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