Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Continuing my Youth Voices in Parliament campaign, I would like to introduce Rebecca, a year 7 student in the Gifted and Talented class at Cumberland High School, who is passionate about the need for a swimming pool in Rydalmere. These are her words:

A multipurpose swimming pool located on the previous Macquarie Boys High School to replace the Parramatta War Memorial Swimming Pool, which was knocked down to build a bigger stadium. This solution allows the people living in the Parramatta district a place to swim without travelling all the way to Granville through infuriating traffic just to get some 'me time'. This swimming pool will accommodate all ages and professions with a kiddy pool, a children's pool, a fifty-metre pool and a diving pool that can also be used for water polo, synchronised swimming and other water sports. This pool will also provide swimming lessons and will be for hire from schools and community groups making the pool a social place to be.

Rebecca continues:

To achieve this change, I would contact the Parramatta council through mail, email or attending meetings, put up notices and send around flyers to raise awareness of this change and or start a petition to make a statement to show that we want a swimming pool. This pool would be a social place and have a positive environment to gather, and hold events and have fun. For the children a place to learn and have fun, for the adults a place to relax and get away from responsibility and for the competitors a place to train and compete.

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… I think this change will change the future of this towns liveability for the better … I think the stakeholders will agree, our community needs a pool!

Thanks, Rebecca. We certainly do need a pool.