ACT Greens MLA for Ginninderra Jo Clay has today reignited calls to back a community petition for ACT Government to step up and help Big Splash open to the community, following the pool's complete closure over the summer holidays.
"Growing up in Canberra, I remember going to Big Splash during the summer and having birthday parties there. It was always a hit, loads of fun and now I wish my daughter, her friends and all other kids could enjoy it just as much as I have," Ms Clay said.
"Now we're at the end of the school summer holidays and the pool is still not open. I have heard from the community that they are concerned about the pool's future as it has remained closed, the website is under maintenance, the phone line is down and social media pages don't appear to be active.
"Importantly, Canberrans have said if Big Splash doesn't reopen, they want the site to remain a place for community facilities, particularly a pool - somewhere they can gather to have fun, stay active and escape the summer heat.
"Just this summer we saw numerous waterways close across the ACT due to bacteria. With summers becoming hotter due to climate change, we need places where people can safely swim."
At the end of November, Big Splash announced that they would not be opening the slides for the summer, but the pools would be open for the school holidays, yet the pool has not opened.
Lead petitioner Dani Hunterford said she created the petition because the ACT Government has a role to ensure community facilities are accessible and open to Canberrans.
"Everyone deserves access to facilities that encourage them to get outside, have fun and promote social inclusion. Big Splash has become a Canberra institution and we need the ACT Labor Government to step in and safeguard this facility. It should be core government business to provide community facilities, yet the ACT Labor Government is happy to simply rely on the private sector to deliver that for our community," Ms Hunterford said.
The petition calls on the ACT Government to investigate all possible avenues to keep the facility open for use, including buying the facility and operating it as a public pool; and guarantee that the zoning of the land is retained to ensure it remains a community facility for future generations.
The Bring Back Big Splash petition closes Friday 28 February.
