Have your say on Council’s Beaches, Pools and Indoor Sports strategies

There’s plenty of summer left to enjoy, and there’s still time to share your feedback on two key strategies that will guide future plans for the management of our beaches, pools and indoor sports facilities for the next 20 years.

The Christmas-New Year period is the perfect time to get out and enjoy our beaches and ocean rock pools or take a dip at one of our supervised pools or leisure centres. Council currently manages more than 50 of these locations and facilities for the community to enjoy.

It includes nine ocean rock pools, eight supervised community pools and two leisure centres as well as 34 patrolled and un-patrolled beaches. Managing these different locations and services requires a large commitment of funds and resources, particularly in relation to aging infrastructure and facilities.

The steps we take, and what we prioritise, must be carefully considered and planned to ensure we continue to meet the current and future needs of our growing community across all our suburbs.

It’s why we’ve provided a lengthy survey period for residents to tell us about their recent experiences, and what they’d like to see in the future to help make these places more enjoyable, accessible and inclusive.

We’ve engaged consultants to help us conduct surveys, with our Beach Services and Surf Sport Strategy survey open until 8 February. Our Aquatics and Indoor Sports Strategy survey, which includes our nine ocean rockpools, is open for feedback until 16 February.

“The recent heatwaves have shown the importance of managing our beaches and pools, and ensuring they are accessible and meet community needs,” Lord Mayor of Wollongong Councillor Tania Brown said.

“They are an intrinsic part of the lifestyle Wollongong offers. It’s why more and more people are looking to call Wollongong home over the next 20 years, and we need to make sure we’re planning for that in managing our beaches, pools and indoor sports facilities.

“I encourage everyone to get online and fill out these surveys to ensure our approach is informed by what our community wants and needs, now and in the future.”

Collecting this data is the first step in a comprehensive engagement process that will see our consultants and engagement team host in-person opportunities for people to share their thoughts, including targeted workshops and pop-ups, as well as information sessions for organisations and user groups.

This second phase of consultation will include our Play Strategy, which is also being reviewed. A survey regarding this Strategy has now closed, with responses received to help guide the next steps in our consultation.

To get involved, head over to Council’s engagement website to complete the surveys