MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council is bracing for a “substantial administrative and enforcement obligation” when tough state government pool and spa regulations come into force early next year.
The shire estimates it has about 10 per cent of the state’s private swimming pools and spas – the most of any local government area.
About 17,000 are “known” to exist although the actual number could be as high as 25,000 – or one-in-four properties. The dates they were built are uncertain for all but 18 per cent – or 3040 – of the known 17,000.
Officers estimate that up to 80 per cent of these pools and spas will be non-compliant under the new rules.
These statistics are set to trigger a workload avalanche that the shire admits it is ill-equipped to handle.
And it will be costly: The mayor Cr David Gill said the fees the council was obliged to charge would not equal the cost of enforcing the state’s new rules. “It will cost the shire – the ratepayers – up to $100 for every registration for which we will be reimbursed $57,” he said.
“We estimate that the whole process, including administration costs, time spent chasing fees and fines, employing inspectors, and tracking down undeclared pools and spas, will cost $2-$3 million in the first few years.
“After that this figure will come down.”
Statutory building manager David Kotsiakos reported to last week’s council meeting that the new rules aimed to reduce drownings among young children by improving safety barriers. He said since 2000 there had been 27 fatalities and for every fatality 15 “near misses” often causing brain injury.
Councils across the state will be required to establish and maintain pool and spa registers when the act comes into force on 1 December 2019.
Existing owners must pay a $37 one-off registration fee by 14 April 2020. This will show the build date of the pool or spa (a difficult ask for 82 per cent of pools/spas on the peninsula), the standard of safety barriers, and the date the owner must provide the first Certificate of Compliance.
Failing to register a pool or spa carries a fine of $330.44.
Mandatory inspections will be carried out every three years. The owner must engage a registered officer (building surveyor, building inspector or private ‘inspector’) to ensure safety barriers are effective, working correctly and comply with standards. The owner then must lodge the certificate of compliance with the shire within 30 days for a fee of $20.
Three stages of lodgements are proposed, with dates for the first Certificate of Compliance dependant on the pool’s construction: 30 October 2020 for pools or spas built before 30 June 1994; 30 April 2021 for those built 1 July 1994-1 May 2010, and 29 October 2021 for those built after 1 May 2010.
Owners found to have non-compliant safety barriers can take 20 days to rectify problems or they will be issued with non-compliance certificates costing $385. The shire will pursue this amount. Owners can apply for time extensions if compliance work takes longer than expected.
Cr Gill said he regretted that the shire would be forced to rely on non-compliance fees to help defray costs. “It’s not a position we like being in,” he said.
“But in the initial stages that is the reality.”
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 17 September 2019
