58. An urban swimming pool for the Yarra_TMBTP

In this episode of This Must Be The Place Elizabeth speaks with Michael O’Neill, one of the volunteer organisers of the group “Yarra Pools”. Yarra Pools are a community-led proposal to reintroduce recreational swimming to the lower reaches of the Yarra. While swimming in the upper Yarra – Laughing Waters, Pound Bend, Warburton – is popular, swimming in the lower urban reaches is now not only rare but technically illegal (due to boating regulations). Not that, as is noted, many people are being held back by the letter of the law. Swimming in the urban reaches of the Yarra dropped off steeply about 50 years ago, mostly in the wake of environmental movement. Through the 1970s Melbournians became more aware of the scale and implications of pollution, and much less inclined to gleefully drench themselves in the Yarra’s soup of raw sewage, industrial goobers, tyres, and frightening compounds. Things like the traditional 3-mile swim to Princess Bridge became the equivalent of incredulously remembering how your Dad used to smoke in his office. The environmental movement has since achieved huge gains in cleaning up the Yarra. Yet awareness has made people more wary of urban waterways. Michael characterises the cleanup of the Yarra as being about halfway there. The biggest remaining challenge is stormwater – AKA diffuse source pollution. Part of the idea for the urban pool proposal is about using swimmability as a benchmark – making the Yarra clean enough to swim in would represent a tangible and relatable measure of liveability. It would tie together the many cumulative efforts of environmental improvements including green roofs, tree canopy strategies, environmental allocations, and water sensitive urban design. Inspired by similar proposals and examples worldwide – Thames Baths, Plus Pool New York, Helsinki, Brisbane - Yarra Pools is developing and testing the idea of a river pool on the Yarra River. They see it as a swimming spot but more generally as a social and meeting space. The chosen site is Enterprise Park opposite the Casino – perhaps best known for recent controversies about Melbourne’s homeless population. Michael discusses the history of the site including its status as an Indigenous meeting space and as site of first contact. He discusses the involvement of indigenous groups and indigenous design principles in developing the Yarra Pools project, and the history of swimming at the spot - “it’s not new what we’re trying to do, we’re trying to bring something back”. The pool idea is one example of how becoming aware of what has been lost can be a way of reimagining a future. Also discussed is the “big journey to go on with regulators”. In olden-days Australia, people traditionally swam in rivers – pre-Olympic pools were areas of town rivers. Municipal chlorinated pools emerged alongside these spots as a sort of formalized offshoot, then outstripped them for reasons of pollution, public health, and local and national pride. Now, pubic pools are themselves under threat and river pools rarely contemplated. Both face the challenges of financialisation and risk mentalities. With pools seen as financial liabilities and as risks, this fuels a cycle of restrictions and cutbacks, undermining the benefits of spaces. Michael points out that this mentality has not (yet) been applied to parks. Yarra Pools’ vision is to create a space more akin to open space, with a cost model that keeps general access cost as low as possible, and facilitates community involvement. Yarra Pools see themselves as positive disruptors – if it doesn’t happen now, someone will take up the idea eventually. Michael points to the success of Eastern Beach in Geelong – a pre-Olympic swimming spot restored using proto-crowd funding. Yarra Pools are on a timeline from 2016-2023. See their website to fill in a survey and see other updates. p.s. apologies, the sound quality drops substantially about 10 minutes due to a Dictaphone mishap. yarrapools.com/