General News
16 May, 2026
Submissions flooded in
BABINDA pool is scheduled to close for maintenance at the end of May for just over three months, with the local community hoping it won’t be the last ever winter shutdown.
Cairns Regional Council’s draft ‘aquatic strategy’ proposes to retire the pool sometime within a general timeline of 2026-2027, but with no specific date for the retirement.
The Babinda community has campaigned strongly to save its pool since the strategy’s release last December.
The document, still available for viewing on council’s website, clearly outlines its intentions for the iconic facility: “Retirement of Babinda Pool following community consultation and development of ANZAC Park or once asset fails or is no longer safe to use.”
Following more than 300 submissions from individuals, Babinda Taskforce, schools and other organisations, the community hopes the aquatic strategy will come back to a council meeting in the near future with a major amendment – that the pool is not retired, its life is extended and there are even future plans for improvements too.
But the council has not given any timeline or estimated schedule for when the draft strategy might again come before a council meeting to The Observer.
The newspaper also asked – but was not given any details at all – about the level of support in the submissions for retaining the pool and extending its life, as well as what sort of backing council received from the community for its opinion that “Babinda Boulders and Bramston beach are viable alternatives for recreational swimming” if the pool is permanently shut. Council’s ‘consultation process’ on the aquatic strategy included inviting the community across the Cairns council area to send in the submissions, which closed on 30 April.
While on the one hand council has said in the strategy that “no decisions have been made” about Babinda pool’s retirement, the document also clearly states why council is earmarking the town’s pool as the only one out of all its aquatic facilities that should not be retained.
“Due to its ageing infrastructure, non-compliance with current standards, very low demand combined with very high maintenance and running costs, the draft aquatic strategy proposes that the Babinda pool be decommissioned as it reaches its end of life or when it becomes unsafe to use,” the strategy states.
Council’s website says “Babinda pool will be closed from 30 May to 6 September” for regular winter maintenance, which the local community hopes council will honour – and not decide to retire the facility during the closure.
In the meantime, one of the last submissions sent into council asking it to save the pool came from an immediate neighbour – the Babinda Community Kindergarten. “Our children have worked passionately to advocate for our community and their desire to help to ‘save our pool’,” the kindergarten said in a personal plea to all Cairns councillors.
“Our children are the future leaders, councillors, politicians, swimmers, athletes, teachers, doctors, fire fighters, farmers, retail workers and so much more,” it added.
“Our entire community and our children deserve the right to have access to quality services that bring people in our community together. We urge you to consider the longevity of the pool.
“The newly-constructed kindy/pool shared fence that council contributed 50% of the funds toward, the thrill from children seeing the swimming pool being used, the connection between the pool, patrons and our own kindy community and the ideal that a community swimming pool should be here for us to use – in our own community.
“So please save our pool. We hope you consider what you would want for your children, your grandchildren, your own community and consider what you would want if this was happening to your own local community.”
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