When it's cold outside - exercise indoors!

Prairiewood boasts a 25m indoor pool (six Lanes) with freeform and 'beach' style entry.

Fairfield City's Leisure Centres provide residents with the opportunity to avoid the cold this winter and maintain their health and fitness, with well-equipped, modern and warm facilities.

The three Leisure Centres – at Fairfield, Prairiewood and Cabravale – offer a wide variety of programs and facilities that appeal to people of all ages and interests.

Facilities include heated indoor and outdoor swimming pools, gymnasiums, sauna and steam rooms, group fitness studios, a sports hall, and community meeting rooms.

Each Centre offers learn-to-swim classes, exercise consultations, personal training, group fitness classes, specialised classes for seniors, and child minding (Fairfield and Prairiewood only).

Prairiewood boasts a 25m indoor pool (six Lanes) with freeform and 'beach' style entry with railing to assist with ease of access. The pool is solar heated (backed up by boiler system running on gas) to 28 degrees C. Prairiewood also has a 50m outdoor heated Pool (which will also soon be solar).

Fairfield has a six-lane, 25m indoor pool, which is heated to 29 degrees C. It, too, is solar backed up by heat pumps. The facility's 50m outdoor pool is not heated (summer season only).

Cabravale has a five-lane, 20m indoor pool heated to 31 degrees (heat pumps backed up by gas boilers). The pool has steps to assist entry.

For those who prefer the fresh air despite the cool, our City has an extensive network of cycleways "shared paths", which give cyclists and pedestrians key acces to retail, industrial and cultural precincts.

The network provides three regional routes east/west across the City:

• Prospect Creek - connecting Holroyd City and Fairfield Town Centre
• Bay to Mountains - connecting Mirabeena Regional Park in Bankstown along Orphans School Creek to Prospect Reservoir
• Cabramatta Creek - linking King Park, Wakely, through to Cabramatta Road via St Johns Park. 

There also are two regional routes that travel north/west across the City:

• Rail Trail - along the rail corridor connecting to Liverpool and Parramatta
• T-Way Cycle-way route

Council has also built a range of linked local shared paths and circuit paths to cater for community demand for informal recreation spaces and equipment.

Facilities along the network of shared paths include Fitness Equipment, which has been installed in 10 parks in recent years.

Council has invested heavily during the past 10 years in providing up-to-date children's play equipment at 155 locations in the 168 parks within Fairfield City.

The installation of these playgrounds has included planting shade trees to build the natural amenity of Fairfield City, provide shade for play experiences (starting with areas for young children) and to build a positive outdoor culture.

Free community services: what your Council is doing for you

Fairfield City Council libraries host a number of free community events
that include tutoring, language classes and more.

Fairfield City Council delivers a range of services and initiatives for residents in the community that help make our City a great place to live, work and play.

Council offers residents new and exciting services that will hopefully ease some of the pressures associated with a rising cost of living, as well as meet the needs of our growing
community.

A few of the free services offered by Council include:

City Connect Bus
A free commuter bus operates Monday to Friday around Fairfield City to provide transport to major interchanges for residents who live in areas poorly serviced by public transport.

Recycling Drop off Centre
Garden and electronic waste, along with recyclable metal, gas cylinders, car batteries and motor oil can be dropped off at the Recycling Drop off Centre at Wetherill Park on Saturdays from 8.30am to 3.30pm for free processing.

Seniors
Residents 60 years or older who hold an Aged Pensioner Concession Card or Seniors Card are entitled to free entry (within certain times) at Fairfield leisure centres. 

Library
Parents and guardians of children aged 0-2 are encouraged to visit the library to learn how to nurture their child's language development using stories, finger play and songs. Students can access three hours of group tutoring by qualified teachers. Council also offers free home delivery of books to housebound residents.

Museum and Art Gallery
Residents are entitled to free general admission to the Fairfield Museum and Gallery.

Fairfield Markets
Markets are held at Fairfield Showground every Saturday from 9am to 4pm. The market is free to enter, family friendly and provides entertainment.

For more information on any of the free services provided by Council, phone: 9725 0222.

Combating illegal dumping

Waste Enforcement Group members.

The recent increase of illegal dumping in Fairfield City has prompted Council's Waste Enforcement Group (WEG) to explore new ways to crack down on offenders.

For three years, WEG has worked hard to keep local streets clean and warn residents about the risks of illegal dumping.

WEG officers are assigned to investigate incidences of illegal dumping in public places and issue Clean Up Notices to private property owners, if there is a chance that dumped material on their site could end up on Council streets.

The team works closely with a number of stakeholders, including local police and HAZMAT to remove dumped material and catch and prosecute offenders.

In their role, WEG officers also deliver educational programs to residents about how dumping affects the community.

Some key educational points focus on the harm that these materials can cause if they end up in local waterways, parks and schools.

The cost to Council to remove illegally dumped waste exceeds $1 million each year, which is a significant burden on ratepayers.

Apart from Council's dedicated WEG officers, a number of measures are deployed to identify offenders, such as closed circuit television cameras (CCTV), cover cameras and GPS information.

In the last financial year, Council issued a total of $288,000 in fines to companies and individuals for illegal dumping on public land.

Contaminated building and construction waste must be disposed of at a licensed landfill site.

A list of authorised landfill sites can be found on the NSW Environment Protection Authority website: www.epa.nsw.gov.au.

Residents should also be aware that mulch is not to be dumped in Council's parks or natural reserves.

Individuals caught dumping mulch will be fined a minimum of $750, and $1500 for corporations.

For more information, contact Council's Open Space team on 9725 0222 or visit: www.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au.

HELPING HAND FOR STUDENTS

To promote the importance of education in the community, libraries across Fairfield City operate free

Homework Centres for students in Years 3 to 12 each week from Monday to Thursday, alternating between the different libraries.

Through this free service, students can access three hours of group tutoring by qualified teachers. Although the service is free, students must pay for any printouts they make.

The Homework Centres operate during the school term to provide assistance with homework and assignments in various subject matters, as well as research and study techniques.

A qualified teacher is present for the duration of the class and computers are available for students to type up their work and complete research.

The Homework Centres do not provide one-on-one tutoring, but focus on homework assistance in a group setting. Students can participate by dropping in to their local library during operating hours.

For students who prefer to study at home or receive one-on-one study advice, the web-based online tutoring service yourtutor is available.

This program is also run free of charge and is offered by the Fairfield City Library Service in partnership with the University of Western Sydney. Tuition is provided in maths, science, general English and research and study skills.

Through yourtutor, students will participate in a live, one-on-one learning session with a tutor in a virtual classroom. This service allows the tutor and student to communicate through instant messaging.

They can share web pages, transfer files and use drawing tools.

This service can be used from the library or at home, but it is provided only to Fairfield City Library members, so members must have their library cards ready when logging in.

Simply follow the onscreen instructions to download the software, and if you have difficulties, visit: http://www.support.yourtutor.com.au for technical support.