Greens MLA Jo Clay and Greens candidate for Fenner Dani Hunterford have called on the ACT Government to consider all options to save the privately-run Big Splash, including buying it and running it as a public facility
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00:00I'm here at Big Splash in Jammo. The community's brought a lot of concerns to
00:04me that this pool hasn't opened this summer and they really really love this
00:08pool. It's really important in a changing climate that we do have places like this
00:12where people can mingle and cool off. Danny Hunterford has brought forward a
00:16petition to bring those community voices to Parliament. I have tried to contact
00:21the owners, I've reached out to them via a few different methods. We're not
00:25managing to get through. I think it is clear that this is a tricky time for
00:30this particular site. It's a really good idea for government to have a look at
00:34what role they'd like to play in this swimming pool and I think it's also
00:38really important that we make sure community voices are heard and that the
00:42community need to keep this as a really beautiful recreational area is heard.
00:46How many people have signed the petition? We've so far got a couple of hundred
00:50signatures on that petition and anyone who would like to sign should jump on to
00:54the Parliament website and sign up. Danny Hunterford's petition is calling
00:58on government to have a look at all of the options. There's lots of choices the
01:02government could make. In some places governments run municipal pools, there is
01:07different involvement for government in different pools around in Canberra
01:10right at the moment. I think it's really up to government to have a look at this
01:13and see what can be done and also to make sure that they're listening to the
01:16community about what should happen here. I think it's great that Minister Berry
01:21has reached out to the business owners. I think it's probably time for government
01:24to take a more active role in Big Splash. We've clearly lost a whole summer here
01:29and the community is pretty concerned. Look, I grew up in Belconnen and we
01:33adored Big Splash. This was the premium birthday party venue for the whole area.
01:38It's clearly not at its best at the moment. Clearly we need something to
01:43happen out here and I think it's really good for government and the local
01:46business to get together and see what can happen. Do you feel the same way
01:49about Phillip Pool? Do you think that should be saved for that community? I
01:52think there's a lot of things going on at the moment for pools in Canberra.
01:57There was a recent assembly motion that passed about Phillip Pool. That's been
02:02referred to a committee that I chair. I can't comment about a matter that's
02:05currently before a committee but I would say watch this space. Look, I think it's
02:08really important that the Canberra community does have public access to
02:12pools. In a changing climate that's really important. All around Canberra
02:16we're densifying, we're living in close confines and here in Macquarie we've got a lot of
02:22great missing middle. We've got townhouses and low-rise apartments. All
02:25of these people need somewhere beautiful to go and they need somewhere they can
02:29get together and mingle. So we need to make sure we're doing that as we go.
02:32I saw that people miss this facility. A lot of people around this area grew up
02:35with this facility and they were really disappointed to see that it was closed
02:39for this summer. This summer in particular has just been such a hot one.
02:43We've seen the devastating impacts of climate change and how it's just made
02:47the weather absolutely unbearable in Canberra and we need community facilities
02:50that deliver for Canberrans such as this one. This facility promotes social
02:54inclusion and it's a fun space for people to engage and just be outside.
02:59I think there's been some comments in the letters to the editor about why
03:03does government have to get involved in a private business. What would you
03:07say to that? I would say that the evidence is right there. This is failing
03:11because of the private industry. Government needs to step in to make sure
03:14that these facilities are open to members of the community.
03:19But it's as if the business owner doesn't want to keep it open if they've made the executive decision to not keep it open for this summer.
03:24Do you think, how can the government intervene?
03:26If the business owner has made that decision, it should be on them to
03:30communicate that. They haven't communicated that and they haven't been
03:32honest with members of the community. What do you make of the lack of
03:35communication, clear communication from the owner to the community? Oh, it's appalling.
03:38The owner needs to step up and say what is going on and just tell the
03:44truth to the community.