Sweltering weather sees fences cut to access school pools in Whangārei

Whau Valley School principal Steve Jenkins at the entrance to the pool illegally accessed by people by either climbing over or cutting the fence. Photo/John Stone

For some, a brief spell at the nearest school pool is all they need to beat the heat.

The trouble is that some unruly Northlanders are trespassing and committing acts of vandalism by cutting school fences to get in to the pools.

In some cases, they are also damaging surveillance cameras.

Whangārei school swimming pools have become a convenient cooling hotspot this summer - but often at a cost the education providers can ill afford.

Whau Valley School principal Steve Jenkins said people have cut holes or climbed over fences to access the pool in recent years during hot summer days or nights.

The school has had to replace pool covers and security cameras which cost about $700 each.

"It got worse in the last couple of years. We're not putting on pool covers any more at night because they get damaged by people lying on them. It's costing the school a lot of money to repair and replace,'' he said.

"It's become really frustrating having to regularly repair fences and it's money that can well go towards education. The insurance excess is $1000 but most of these repairs cost under that amount.''

teve Jenkins is frustrated at having to spend money repairing damage at the school pool done by unauthorised access to the facility. Photo / John Stone

The last time people accessed the pool was about 12.30am on Wednesday and they stayed for less than 30 minutes.

Jenkins said sometimes people got on top of a tarpaulin hanging over the pool and jumped into the water.

Raurimu Avenue School in Onerahi is also having similar problems and principal Riri Peti Totoro has urged people to go to beaches to cool off.

She said people have cut fences to get into the school pool and it was costly to repair them.

People seen on the surveillance footage in the Whau Valley School pool

"If I could, I would open the pool during school holidays but I'd need to employ someone to maintain it.

"Small schools are unable to foot such costs and we're a small school. People like school pools because they are small and free to use but they should go to beaches instead," she said.