Pool upgrade favoured option

Jendi Paterson.
Jendi Paterson.
Upgrading Wanaka's community pool and establishing a dedicated learners' pool at the new Northlake subdivision has been recommended as the best medium-term option for the town's swimming pool provisions.

A new eight-lane lap pool and learners' pool at Wanaka's Three Parks subdivision was shown to be the public's preference in recent community consultation but a report for consideration at this Thursday's Queenstown Lakes District Council meeting recommends deferring its completion until 2020.

The main benefit would be to reduce the financial impact on Wanaka ratepayers, who would also be contributing to stage one of the sports facility from next year, the reports states.

The report has been prepared by QLDC recreation team leader Jendi Paterson and reviewed and authorised by operations general manager Ruth Stokes and chief executive Adam Feeley, respectively.

It recommends allocating $200,000 in the draft 2015-25 long term plan for further building remediation at the pool in Plantation Rd in 2015-16 and negotiating with Northlake Investments Ltd to deliver a learn-to-swim pool which would be leased by the council and incur no additional cost to ratepayers.

If the recommendation is adopted by the council, $11.8 million would be allocated in the plan for a new pool development as stage two of the sports facility at Three Parks, proposed to begin in 2017-18 and be completed in 2019-20.

At present, the budget for new swimming facilities in Wanaka is in year eight (2022-23) of the plan.

However, progressing with new pool facilities earlier, in 2015-16, was favoured by 70.7% of submitters during public consultation.

While the earlier construction date was consistent with the recommendations of the Wanaka Sports Facility Steering Group, it came at ''substantial additional cost to the ratepayers even with increased user charges'', the report states.

''This is also arguably delivering additional pool capacity substantially earlier than just in time.''

The recommended option would give time to form an independent fundraising committee for new swimming facilities at Three Parks, identify potential surplus council land to sell to offset the capital cost, provide a dedicated learners' pool and release capacity in the existing pool for casual recreation and fitness.

The total annual operating deficit to be funded by ratepayers for the existing Wanaka pool, future Wanaka Sports Facility and a learners' pool at Northlake would be about $1,062,078.

The addition of an eight-lane lap pool and learners' pool at Three Parks as part of the sports facility would increase the estimated annual deficit to be funded by $1,176,321, to $1,983,399.

A separate independent phone survey of Wanaka ratepayers showed 57% of 400 respondents would not be willing to fund a new council-owned facility including a learners pool, if there was already a privately owned pool at Northlake which included a lap pool and/or a learners pool.

lucy.ibbotson@odt.co.nz

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