A GROUP of children as young as 10 were forced to walk from the aquatic centre to Glenroi when they were refused entry to the pool over the weekend.
Janice Glover said her friend’s children aged between 10 and 11 were barred from the pool because they had no adult supervision, despite swimming unaccompanied all through last season.
“They weren’t allowed in the pool but they were allowed to walk home to Glenroi,” she said.
“You need guidelines but there’s never been any notification.”
Council spokesman Nick Redmond said it had been a policy for years that children under 12 have had to be supervised by someone 16 years or older.
He acknowledged the policy had been a challenge for the council to police.
“[The pool] has certainly been used as a baby sitting service from time to time,” he said.
Mr Redmond said un-supervised children could access a phone to ask their parents to pick them up, but families should follow the rules.
Ms Glover called for the entry age cut-off to be lowered to 10 years old as many children were at risk of drowning when swimmming at Gosling Creek Reserve or Suma Park Dam unsupervised.
“These children will find a way to swim totally unsupervised,” she said.
“Will it take a death for them to change?”
Ms Glover said Bathurst pool allowed children as young as 10 to swim unsupervised and Blayney’s cut-off was 12-years-old.
