Local residents are calling on Hume council to clean-up and improve the Sunbury Aquatic and Leisure Centre.
Suggested improvements for the site include enclosing the outdoor pool and aesthetic repairs.
They have also been calls for the facility to be rebuilt.
The comments com as Hume council begins preparing a master plan for the centre.
Sunbury resident Patrick Esse said while the 25-metre pool has been repaired, he feels the facility “needs a pretty good clean-up”.
“The hydropool and everything like that needs a good facelift, probably a good painting … the council needs to clean it up out the front and make it more presentable,” he said.
Former Hume councillor and Sunbury resident Jack Medcraft said he proposes enclosing the existing outdoor pool to create a single indoor facility, aiming to increase the amount of pools suitable for year-round use.
“I asked them to put that on the master plan … [The Melton Waves Leisure Centre] is probably the equivalent of what I’d be looking for,” Mr Medcraft said.
He proposes that this added indoor pool could have heating and cooling to make it accessible for 360 days of the year, with a ceiling that could be opened or closed based on the weather conditions.
“It just adds to the availability of a facility that is pretty much up to speed … over all, it’s a really good setup, it would just enhance the overall experience of using the [centre],” he said.
“The growth that’s going to happen in Sunbury, we really need an up-to-date facility that will cater for the increased population … Sunbury in the next 10 years will probably double in population.”
Another former Hume councillor and Sunbury resident, Trevor Dance, said he believes some of the centre’s issues have been “ignored.”
“Finally, it’s at [a] point to stop these Band-Aid fixes and commit to a brand-new aquatic centre on the current site,” Mr Dance said.
A council spokesperson said the masterplan will inform the future development of the facility to meet the community needs of Sunbury.
