The " silly season " is fast approaching, but it must be here already because an architect has won second prize in a competition for suggesting people empty their swimming pools and convert them into " granny flats ".
Australia will need 630,000 new homes by 2036 to accommodate the expected population increase. This suggestion is intended to reduce the need for a proliferation of towering apartment blocks.
There are 360,000 private swimming pools in New South Wales and it is suggested that these could easily be converted into one bedroom living space, with kitchenette, bathroom and lounge facilities. Windows would be located in the roof - and the existing family home would still have a nice garden.
The person making this suggestion may know a lot about architecture - but could do with improved knowledge of engineering and science.
For a start, there would be a danger that an empty swimming pool space would " float " if the surrounding soil became inundated with water. This is a phenomenon common to the fuel tanks of abandoned petrol stations.
Such a granny flat would also be claustrophobic.
Presumably it would need to have a toilet. In a flat land suburb it would be impossible to connect a toilet to the sewer from underground without an expensive pumping system.
Ventilation would be a problem - and any unventilated living space could be a health danger from the buildup of naturally occurring radioactive gases. These are known to cause cancer and other diseases.
Finally, access would be a stumbling block. " Granny flats " by their very nature are intended for the elderly - and one thing the elderly do not handle well is stairs.
It is unlikely that we will see a spate of swimming pools being converted into living accommodation - and if the forecasters are right and we are about to experience a sharp contraction in annual rainfall - those swimming pools may be needed in their natural state as a source of drinking water !
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