Despite an outcry from the 2508 community, Helensburgh Pool will be closed until January, with site fencing going up this week and tradespeople due to start repairs.

“These are works that we have to get done, and the sooner we get it done, the better for everyone,” Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown told the Illawarra Flame on a visit to Helensburgh last Wednesday.

Cr Brown said that, as well as time for design, compliance and the tender process, there had been a delay due to finding the right location for Helensburgh’s new library and community centre, with the pool site among those considered.

“So that all took a lot of time through community consultation to get the library site locked in, and that’s probably impacted what’s happened at the pool, but we’ve got a plan now to move forward.”

Further delays could cause costs to blow out, Cr Brown said.

Grant received in 2022

It’s been almost three years since November 2022, when Wollongong Council received $3.2 million from the NSW Government’s Multi-Sport Community Facility Fund to improve Helensburgh facilities. The grant’s criteria included that projects must be completed by 31 December 2025.

Part of the funding was for sportsfield lighting at Rex Jackson Park, which Council has completed, but the majority was intended for an upgrade of the town’s 56-year-old swimming pool.

Many residents – including a local GP whose patients use the pool to recover and keep fit – have been asking why the pool works weren’t done in winter.

“Choosing to close it over the peak time for use is cruel and to the detriment of the local community”, Dr Trevor Kemper, owner of Equilibrium Healthcare, said.

However, with state funding at risk and the possibility of costs rising if works are delayed until next winter, Council is backed into a corner – some say of its own making.

Council staff 'weren't listening' 

Feelings over the pool’s closure were running hot and high at Neighbourhood Forum 1’s August 13 meeting, where the mood was one of “frustration and anger”, NF1 convenor Warwick Erwin said.

In all his years as a community activist, Warwick has not seen anything like this response since the decades-old row over the 7d lands pitted environmentalists against would-be developers.

At NF1 there were calls for a public ‘town hall’ meeting and, in the wider community, Warwick has heard threats to tear down job-site fencing or lock pool gates to keep council out.

“Council has stuffed up,” he said, adding the consensus at the NF1 meeting was that two years had been wasted due to council staff trying to locate the new library and community centre at the pool, against the community’s wishes.

“They were trying to save money by doing things together, doing it on the cheap. The community has never said it wanted it [the new library] at the pool.

“It’s Council staff that drove that – Council staff have got more power than what they should have.

“They weren’t listening to the community. 

“There is a lot of frustration.”

NF1 is calling for a schedule of works and a grant audit, but is resigned to the spring repairs and inquiring about a shuttle bus to Corrimal Pool.

Tracking the changes

Through the years, NF1 has kept a paper trail of promises, including a March 2023 email from the office of then Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery, confirming the grant amount was $3,241,666 and that Council would also contribute funding, taking the total project spend to $4.05 million.

The March 2023 email stated: “Helensburgh Pool upgrade will include demolition of the 25m pool shell with a new improved pool shell that will incorporate a beach accessible entry point, a new splash pad and improvements to the pool filtration, shade and accessible facilities.”

In July 2025, Council announced the pool would receive a “refurbishment”.

This was because “detailed investigation” had shown that repairs – including structural remediation and resealing construction joints – could extend the pool’s life by 30 years, Lord Mayor Tania Brown told the Illawarra Flame.

Other improvements will include resurfacing the pool concourse, new handrails, seating, shade and bike racks. Amenities will be revamped and a new accessible toilet built. Council will also replace the ageing pool plant and equipment, and install a new shade cloth.

Council is currently predicting completion “before the January summer peak”.