By Bonny Burrows
It was sold as a retirement home with “resort style” facilities, but residents of Pakenham’s Main Street Village aren’t lounging around the pool.
Instead, they’re lobbying for what they describe as a “simple fix” to alleged design faults.
A petition signed by 52 residents details problems with the facility’s indoor pool, including railing which doesn’t go all the way into the water and a bottom step they say is too high from the ground.
The heated pool’s water is ironically too cold, they argue, deterring people away from water aerobics classes and rehabilitation exercises.
One resident, Brigid Sinclair, said the facility’s pool was one of the main reasons she and husband Laszlo chose to call Main Street home.
The retiree has a number of injuries which benefit from water rehabilitation; however, she said the cool temperature and unsafe railing meant she was unable to use the pool.
“My water exercises strengthen my muscles. It’s good for someone who is disabled to use the water, but I can’t; it’s too cold so my muscles clamp up,” Ms Sinclair said.
“There’s a perfectly good pool there, but I can’t use it.”
The Sinclairs said they had written a letter to village management before Christmas seeking an extension of the railing and the pool’s temperature to be raised to about 33 degrees Celsius but had not received a response.
They believe it’s not a big ask- all residents who signed the petition were happy to pay for the works or be charged a pool entry fee to cover expenses.
“If it comes to that, we’re prepared to pay for the peace and quiet. We just want to go about our day and be able to use the pool,” Mr Sinclair said.
Mr Sinclair said the nearby Cardinia Waters Retirement Village, also operated by Retirement Communities Australia, had railing all the way down to the water so the change was possible.
“If they can have railing all the way into the water there, why can’t we here?” he said.
“In my opinion, there is a simple solution and I just hope they do it. It’s the right thing to do.”
Main Street Village owner Retirement Communities Australia did not respond to questions from the Gazette.
