NSW gas outage impacts pool heating at Lithgow’s JM Robson Aquatic Centre

A gas pipeline outage impacting the NSW Central Tablelands has not only left 20,000 people without natural gas during an unseasonal period of cold weather but has also impacted the pool heating at the JM Robson Aquatic Centre in Lithgow.

A statement from Lithgow City Council advised that “due to the current gas outage within the Lithgow (area), the heating at J.M Robson Aquatic Centre has been affected.

The statement added “the heating system for the pools and amenities operates on an efficient combination of electricity, solar and gas, with most of the energy source being gas.

“As a result, there has been a significant drop in water temperature at the facility and the showers do not have a hot water supply. Unfortunately, for this reason, it is necessary to cancel all swimming lessons until further notice. The centre is currently working on available dates to reschedule lessons and will advise parents once full operation is restored.

“The facility will remain open for lap swimming, and advice on water temperatures will be advertised through our Facebook page.”

Residents in the central-west towns of Bathurst, Lithgow and Wallerawang woke up on Thursday to find their homes without natural gas, a day after snow fell in the region and a temperature of 1C was recorded in Lithgow.

The towns of Portland and Oberon are also affected.

The outage was caused by an incident on the natural gas pipeline between Young and Lithgow on Wednesday night and, according to pipeline owner and operator, APA Group, is expected to last several weeks for some residents.

The leak is reported to have occurred beneath the Macquarie River at White Rock, south of Bathurst - an area is affected by flooding.

In Lithgow, the gas disruption is yet another blow to a community that has been affected by bushfires, Covid restrictions and flood events in the past three years.

Image: Interior of the JM Robson Aquatic Centre in Lithgow.