Walgett, in NSW's far north, can be a blisteringly hot place. This summer the oasis of the local pool has been off limits. That was, until today. A community-led campaign has secured repairs to the facility but they're only short-term meaning more money and work will be needed to keep it open.
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00:00 Earlier this month, Walgott endured multiple days above 40 degrees without a pool or a
00:07 place to safely cool off.
00:09 It's been terrible keeping people down and inside and not be able to get out and have
00:14 any fun.
00:15 Six months ago, the town's only pool was decommissioned due to leaks and a failing filtration system.
00:22 But now a temporary fix means it's once again open, just in time for the new year.
00:28 To be the first one to dive in this summer and swim laps in the 50 metre pool was just
00:32 fantastic.
00:32 I feel really great. It's really fun, especially with the slides.
00:36 The kids are enjoying it, being able to get out of the house and have a bit of fun and
00:40 get wet at the same time and stay cool.
00:42 The community rallied to get the pool back up and running and after several setbacks,
00:47 it's finally happened.
00:49 A few of us spoke at the local council meeting to make some noise and thankfully from that
00:53 meeting they rescinded the motion to decommission the pool.
00:57 Dan and Monique Allman moved to Walgett from Sydney's northern beaches a year ago and say
01:01 it's been a big adjustment.
01:03 We've been waiting a long time I guess for the pool to be up and running again and to
01:07 get the sort of message saying it was open today was fantastic because it's been hot
01:11 out here.
01:13 Might only be a temporary solution, but locals are thrilled to have somewhere safe to swim
01:19 as a reprieve from this outback heat.
01:21 It gives us a little bit of time to do that planning that's required around, you know,
01:27 what we will replace it with, how we will replace it and then of course that finding
01:31 funding.
01:32 But for now, they're just happy to be able to make a splash.
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