This summer, everyone — young, old or less mobile — will have a chance to enjoy the sparkling waters of Naracoorte Swimming Lake, thanks to a community-driven project that has transformed accessibility at one of the town’s most beloved landmarks.

When the lake opens on November 24, swimmers will notice a gleaming new feature: $24,000 worth of non-slip steps and stainless steel handrails, designed to make entering and exiting the lake easier and safer for older residents and those with mobility challenges.

“This is what happens when the community and council work together,” said Naracoorte’s Mal McCully, praising the workmanship and stability of the new non-slip steps.

In a bid to get steps and better access for less abled people, more than three years ago Mr McCully first sought help from the council’s administration and began writing letters.

“But nothing happened for the first year, or the second year,” Mr McCully said.

Then he wrote to all the councillors and found the voice of Cr Crash Downward to tackle the issue.

“I come up here (to the lake) six or seven days of the week for the whole three or four months that it’s open, and others do as well,” Mr McCully said.

“Myself and a group of ‘aging persons’ shall we say, not old, were finding it harder and harder to get up those vertical steps every morning (during summer) and getting in and getting out of the lake.

“I’ve lost my balance, and I was finding it extremely hard to get out, so I wondered if we could have a set of steps like this made like we’ve got up at the hospital pool, where you can walk down into the pool and it’s safer for all of us, and so much easier.”

“Finally, I (wrote) a letter for the whole council. Crash has been a friend of mine for many, many years and said he would look at it for me.

“And now, we’ve got a magnificent structure which is a help to all concerned.”

Cr Downward said that being able bodied himself, access into the lake was something he had never considered until Mr McCully brought it to his attention.

“Knowing Mal and his limited mobility, it was then pretty evident what was needed,” Cr Downward said.

At the council’s February meeting this year, Cr Downward raised the matter as a motion with notice and won unanimous support for the installation of steps and a ramp at the lake for less ambulant people.

While the access steps have been finished, the ramp will be installed at the end of the swimming season.

“Most of us in our group, we don’t swim. We walk and we do exercises, which physiotherapists give us, which I’ve been doing for years,” Mr McCully said.

“The benefits are that we’re just feeling healthier. And even though I can’t walk because of my mobility, I just feel 100 per cent better by coming up every morning and exercising and enjoying it.

“We get here at 6-6.30am every morning (during summer), six or seven days of the week. It’s just part of our life.”

Now that there’s access, Mr McCully said he hoped a lot more older or less-abled people would feel welcome to join them in the mornings, or be able to use and enjoy the lake anytime it suited them.

Mr McCully and Cr Downward also praised the input of council staff, including urban works coordinator, Jason Stanley.

Mr Stanley said that in the past he had sometimes seen people struggling, particularly to get out of the lake on the vertical ladders.

He was proud of being involved with the new access steps for less ambulant people and hoped more people would be able to enjoy the lake.

“I only got involved when it came through council that we were doing this and I was involved in the initial design stage,” Mr Stanley said.

“We had a couple of designs one with the steps going straight out, and we changed that because I would rather have them come down the side of the wall, like they are.”

Mr Stanley was also proud of the work being done to prepare for this year’s swimming season.

“We have a good team, our parks and garden team. They get up here every day and start about 6am in summer,” he said.

Their work included spending an hour or so each day cleaning duck manure from the paths around the lake as well as the usual mowing, checking skimmer boxes four times a day and monitoring PH levels.

Additionally, non-slip paint has been put on the paths and new carpet has been laid on the pontoon.

Spikes have been put on all the lights to stop corellas breaking and damaging them; and sails chewed by corellas have been replaced.

Taking five days to fill, the lake holds around nine million litres which is fed in from a nearby bore.

To maintain water levels and irrigate the surrounding grounds each summer, the lake requires around 30,000kL of groundwater.

The council has also allocated $360,000 for a new catering and café area and work will begin when this swimming season closes to limit interference in current kiosk operations during the busy season.

While vandalism has occasionally been an issue in the past, security cameras which constantly monitor the lake have helped police catch and charge those responsible.

This article appeared in The Naracoorte News, 19 November 2025.