General News
28 February, 2026
Fresh twist in pool crusade
THE fight to save and improve Babinda pool has taken a new turn, with the community requesting Cairns Regional Council open its books on the facility’s maintenance.
It emerged at a community meeting in Babinda earlier this month that $279,000 was spent over 12 months on maintenance of the pool.
Council’s draft ‘aquatic strategy’ proposes the pool be retired at the end of its life, which could be as early as this year, and is receiving community submissions until 30 April.
But locals have asked council to provide a full breakdown of the amount, saying that given the pool’s state of disrepair, how that level of expenditure can be justified.
“I am now calling on all the Cairns division councillors and council officers to stand up and provide the information I asked for in the meeting,” said Carly Francis, a former swimming teacher and lifeguard at the pool.
“At the meeting it was mentioned that $279,000 was spent in the last 12 months on maintenance at Babinda Pool,” she said.
“I know every single person in town is questioning what maintenance has actually been done on the pool.
“Definitely nothing worthwhile in the past year, let alone the past 10 years, which is why the pool is in such disrepair.”
Babinda District Community Association (Taskforce) president Dalitta Wright, who helped organise the town meeting, has confirmed that the Taskforce and other residents have requested “lessee performance details” from council officers.
The pool is managed under a contract with council by private operator, Bajada Pty Ltd (trading as Marlin Coast Swimming and Fitness) which also has other Cairns and Tablelands public pools under its portfolio, including recently adding the Tobruk Pool in Cairns North.
“What we are trying to determine is how and where council’s $279,000 is being spent each year,” Ms Wright told The Observer.
The newspaper has put similar questions to council, asking for a breakdown of the maintenance costs and, specifically, if details will be made public.
But the Taskforce is not confident council will release details of maintenance expenditure.
“Advice is the information is ‘commercial in confidence’ and won’t be released,” Ms Wright said.
She has added, however, that there has been positive response from the operator since the pool’s possible fate started to gain heightened publicity in Babinda and elsewhere.
“It is heartening to see council and the lessee are responding quickly to our requests for maintenance.”
MP raises pool issue
Meanwhile, the plight of the pool has been raised in state parliament by local MP Shane Knuth, who spoke on the facility and others like it meeting possible similar fates in the Tablelands.
“Mr Speaker, unfortunately, up to this point, I’ve seen no genuine interest for certain councils in working with me to secure funding and keep these pools open,” Mr Knuth said in a speech.
“Instead, I see what I can only describe as a slash and burn approach to community assets,” he said.
The Member for Hill also said pools “provide safe recreation, relief from extreme heat, swimming lessons for kids and social connection for small communities.”
He called on councils, including Cairns, to properly investigate options to keep the Babinda pool open.
“Closing them without exhausting every possible option to save them is a disaster for regional towns that are already struggling to retain services, even though, Mr Speaker, the state government does have funding available to assist regional communities to save and upgrade community swimming pools, but that funding requires cooperation and commitment from local councils,” Mr Knuth said.
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