Make sure your backyard pool is safe this summer by taking part in Wollongong City Council’s swimming pool fencing inspection program.

As part of the program, Council will conduct inspections across a sample of the 14,000 swimming pools located within the Wollongong Local Government Area to help residents comply with the Swimming Pool Act.

Director of Planning and Environment, Andrew Carfield, said Council has written to local pool owners asking them to put their hand up to be part of the inspection program.

“Council will inspect a number of pools over the next three months and make suggestions on what improvements need to be made. Owners will then have an amnesty on any breaches as long as they make the necessary changes in a suitable timeframe,” Mr Carfield said.

“With drowning one of the major causes of death for NSW children under the age of five, the Swimming Pools Act was created in 1992 and regulation was updated in 1998 to ensure backyard pools were adequately fenced and protected.”

“Council currently makes sure new pools comply with this legislation at the time of development consent, however there is no formal program to check the safety of pools installed before 1998,” Mr Carfield said.  

“Council has run successful pool audit programs for the last couple of years and carried out more than 200 voluntary swimming pool fencing inspections. These inspections revealed around 70 percent of local swimming pool fences didn’t comply with the safety requirements, so there is room for improvement.”

“The main safety issues that emerged through last year’s inspections were pool owners having defective self closing gates, missing or outdated resuscitation charts and non compliant fences,” Mr Carfield added.

“We hope another round of inspections will help us educate even more pool owners and reduce the risk of a backyard tragedy in Wollongong this Summer.”

To find out more or get involved, contact Council on 4227 7111.