Cool off over summer at one of Council’s outdoor pools

Published on 04 December 2024

Council’s outdoor pool season kicks off in Castlemaine, Harcourt, Maldon and Newstead from Saturday 7 December until Monday 10 March.

The pools are managed and operated by YMCA Victoria, and to celebrate the commencement of the season, inflatable fun and BBQ’s will be held over the first two weekends:

• Castlemaine Pool: Saturday 7 December (3.00pm-5.00pm)
• Maldon Pool: Sunday 8 December (3.00pm-5.00pm)
• Newstead Pool: Saturday 14 December (3.00pm-5.00pm)
• Harcourt Pool: Sunday 15 December (3.00pm-5.00pm)

Collectively, the pools will host more than 20 events throughout the summer across the four pool sites, including barbecues, inflatable fun, live music and free entry on Australia Day.

The VicSwim program which focuses on swimming and water safety for children from four years of age will return to all four pools in January, with bookings currently open through the VicSwim website.

Other pool activities will include aqua aerobics, junior lifeguard program, lap swimming and aqua playgroup.

The Lap it Up Club program will also be on offer, which encourages swimmers to document their swimming achievements, with prizes given at the end of the season for most laps recorded at each pool.

In February, young women between the ages of 12-18 will also have the opportunity to pick up one of 10 free pool passes as part of the This Girl Can campaign.

Bookings can also be made for lane hire and birthday parties, and the YMCA continues to offer free access to their Virtual Y online health and wellbeing resource website.

Council follows the Victorian Government’s Watch Around Water requirements. These requirements are compulsory for public pools and govern the number of children that adults are able to supervise: one adult can supervise two children under five years of age, or four children aged five to nine years.

Opening hours at Council’s outdoor pools are guided by our weather policy. Pools will not open if the forecast temperature for the day is lower than 23ºC.

This is based on the temperature forecast for Castlemaine on the Bureau of Meteorology website at 6.00pm the previous day. If the temperature is over 32ºC at 6.00pm pools may stay open until 8.00pm. Information on additional hours and closures will be placed on the Mount Alexander Pools Facebook page at www.facebook.com.au/mountalexanderpools.

For more information, including opening times, entry fees, activities and events visit www.mountalexanderpools.com.au.

The Chewton pool, which is run by the community and with funding support by Council, is now open until Monday 10 March. For more information visit www.chewtonpool.com.au.

Image left to right: Taylar McKnight, Castlemaine's Team Leader; Cameron Anderson, Senior Coordinator; Luke Anderson, Harcourt's Team Leader