In the 1920s Randwick Council was promoting Long Bay, as Malabar was known then, as a lovely spot to have a swim and a picnic. Unfortunately, by 1957 people were protesting in the park over the water pollution caused by the Malabar sewerage outfall. Water quality became so bad the beach was declared off-limits and the pool was abandoned. It wasn’t until the deep ocean outfall for sewage opened in 1990 that the water was fit for swimming again. After the dilapidated pool was deepened and had its facilities updated, it reopened in 1997 and quickly became part of Malabar beach life once again.