Why Save Phillip Pool?

The fight for Canberra’s public spaces is about more than water!

There’s something sacred about public pools. They aren’t just buildings filled with chlorinated water, they’re places where toddlers learn to float, teenagers escape the heat with their friends, and older adults keep their joints moving and their hearts strong. For thousands of Canberrans, Phillip Pool isn’t just a facility — it’s a lifeline.

And that lifeline is under threat.

With over 5,600 signatures on a growing petition, the Canberra community is speaking clearly: don’t take this away from us.

A quiet cornerstone of community wellbeing

Phillip Pool has long served Woden, Weston Creek, and South Canberra, offering a low-cost, accessible space for swimming, hydrotherapy, and everyday movement. Not to mention a vibrant sporting scene with swimming teams training, competitions by Triathlon ACT and Waterpolo ACT and a space for athletic recovery following a tough AFL or Netball game. It’s a local’s pool. The kind of place you bump into neighbours, take your kids after school, or go for a gentle recovery session after surgery.

When we think about wellbeing, we often think of medical care or mental health plans. But community health is built in spaces like this, where connection, routine, and movement intersect.

For people recovering from injury, managing chronic pain, or living with disability, Phillip Pool is not a luxury, it’s part of their health plan. It’s a place where mobility, dignity, and social inclusion are preserved.

What’s threatening the pool?

A Development Application (DA) lodged by the leaseholder seeks to demolish the pool to make way for new residential and commercial development. While progress is part of any city’s story, many locals feel this decision prioritises profit over the broader public.

Barriers at play include:

• A private lease arrangement limiting public say in its future

• A lack of accessible aquatic infrastructure in nearby suburbs

• Uncertainty around plans for a future Woden pool (which remains delayed or unfunded)

• No transition plan for existing users, from swim schools to therapy patients to the elderly

And as urban density increases, the need for green and blue spaces, places to breathe, move, and connect, becomes more important, not less.

What happens if it goes?

When pools close, it doesn’t just mean fewer laps. It means:

• Older residents becoming more isolated

• Therapy options disappearing for people with disability

• Working families losing local swim school access

• Sporting clubs folding

• Community groups scattering

The proposed redevelopment is framed by the developer as having multiple benefits for the community, including, increased housing supply, boosting the local economy and is a transit-orientated development such as, reducing car dependency and improving environmental sustainability. However, these benefits rely heavily on long-term delivery and critics argue they come at the immediate cost of public health infrastructure. The mental health impact of losing a routine, a sense of place, or social connection is often overlooked in planning decisions. Yet research continues to show that access to public, inclusive spaces is key to long-term health outcomes.

What are the options?

The ACT Government has previously committed to exploring a new pool for Woden, but without clear timeframes or budget guarantees, the community is asking: what happens in the meantime?

Community-led suggestions include:

• Urging the ACT Government to intervene in lease negotiations

• Funding a temporary aquatic facility until new infrastructure is built

• Exploring a community-run model to preserve the site

• Committing to consultation with existing user groups before final decisions are made

I think we can agree, this isn’t just about a pool. It’s about what we lose when spaces like this disappear, not just fitness, but access. Not just swimming, but safe social connection. Phillip Pool may not be fancy, but it works. And it works for the people who need it most.

If we’re serious about preventative health, equity, and community wellbeing, then saving Phillip Pool isn’t just a local issue. It’s a Canberra values issue.

Because once it’s gone, it’s not just a hole in the ground, it’s a hole in our community.