BY OLIVIA DILLON

Newcastle Council is coming through on it’s promise to make the city’s five inland pools more accessible for visitors. 

It’s delivered a new accessible change room at the Wallsend Swimming Centre, as part of a $1.25 million commitment to make the swimming experience in Newcastle more inclusive. 

Councillor Margaret Wood, says there’s an increasing demand for improved facilities.

“About 17% of our population have a disability, and we also have an ageing population and we know that disability tends to increase with age, particularly mobility issues. So, we want everyone in our community to be able to participate fully in these community facilities,” she says. 

She says the next phase of works will focus on helping visitors enter the pools. 

“The next step along the way is to create accessible pools in all of our facilities, and that will involve investigations into which is the best way to allow people to enter our pools, so we’re looking at things like platforms, lifts, hoists and the like.”