How our pools are managed and funded
Indigo Shire's five swimming pools are more than recreational infrastructure, they are gathering places deeply woven into the social fabric of our communities, delivering health and wellbeing benefits in areas where access to such facilities can otherwise be limited.
Who manages our pools?
Indigo Shire Council does not directly operate its pools.
Since the 2021/22 season, Belgravia Leisure has managed all five pools under a contract with Council. The most recent contract extension, resolved at Council's May 2025 meeting, runs for the 2025/26 season at a total cost of $747,463.
This contract model means that operating hours, season dates, and staffing levels are agreed and priced at the start of each season, and changing them mid-season is not simply a matter of opening the gates a little longer.
How operating hours are set
Hours vary across our five pool sites and are based on historical usage and participation trends.
Because the contract with Belgravia is specifically priced according to these agreed hours, any change, including extending the season, requires a formal contract variation and additional funding from Council that sits outside our annual operating budget.
Why we can't always extend the season
When warm weather stretches into March and April, we regularly hear from community members asking us to keep the pools open longer. We understand that completely, but extending the season at even one pool costs thousands of dollars per week.
To fund a four-week extension across all five pools is estimated to cost Council around $100,000, money that would need to come from reductions in service delivery somewhere else.
The financial reality of pool operations
Council currently subsidises every visit to every pool. Based on figures from the 2024/25 season, the average subsidy is $42 per person, per visit, calculated by dividing total operating costs by total visitation at each site.
That subsidy is under growing pressure. Operating and replacement costs are rising faster than inflation, while visitation has been slowly declining over the past eight years. In 2024/25 alone, there were almost 6,000 fewer visits across our five pools compared with the previous season, with the biggest drops recorded at Beechworth and Tangambalanga.
Looking ahead
Pool operations, season dates, and hours are reviewed at the end of each season. Council recognises how much these pools matter to our communities, and those decisions are never made lightly.
We hope this information helps explain the constraints we're working within and why responsible management of this service requires us to weigh every dollar carefully.