Three sites identified for Warkworth pool

The Campbell Reserve in Glenmore Drive, the Shoesmith Domain below Warkworth Primary School and Dawson Reserve at Snells Beach have been identified as the three most suitable sites for a Warkworth aquatic centre.

In a feasibility study prepared for Auckland Council and released to sports code representatives last month, 11 sites were assessed against nine criteria.The authors of the 46-page $20,000 report, aquatic consultants Watershed, estimate that the facility will cost somewhere between $10.5m and $12.5m to build, and will have an annual operating deficit of more than $300,000.

The report points out that while the lack of a swimming pool in Warkworth has been identified within Council’s recently released Community Facilities Network Plan as a gap, it has not been assessed as a current priority to attract capital funding in the current Long Term Plan.“This could change if the facility was able to attract external funding from a strategic partner,” the report said. “Regardless of the partnership opportunities, the Rodney Local Board will need to identify various funding strategies to deliver a viable project once a preferred site has been confirmed and a potential partner identified.

“In addition, we anticipate increased pressure on local government spending on discretionary activities and projects in the foreseeable future. It will be important to establish project funding and viability as soon as possible.”

Other sites evaluated in the report included Warkworth Showgrounds, Goodall Reserve at Snells Beach, the Atlas site on SH1, land adjacent to the showgrounds and some school sites.

Campbell Reserve, Dawson Reserve and Shoesmith Domain rated more highly for a number of reasons including that the sites were large enough accommodate a facility which would have a footprint of somewhere between 5500sqm and 9200sqm.

The showgrounds, which had been touted as a possible site for a pool for many years, was seen as a less attractive option because it lacked both stormwater and wastewater services. The report said this would add to the costs in both dollars and land consumption for wastewater fields.

However, the report found that the showgrounds site did present some opportunity to co-locate with the rugby clubrooms and multi-purpose facility projects, as well as improving the car parking to the precinct overall.

“The development of a facility at this site could be delivered in stages and in partnership with a number of other users/codes,” the report stated.The report looked at the estimated capital and operating costs for a facility, and explored possible partnership opportunities outside of Council rates.

While a partnership with Mahurangi College looks unlikely at this stage, the Northern Arena complex at Silverdale was given as an example of what a commercial partnership might look like.

Board member Steven Garner says Warkworth has a long wait ahead of it if such a large project was to be funded entirely from rates. He believed even a targeted rate would struggle to get support despite the demonstrated community support for a pool.

“There weren’t any surprises in the report,” he says. “It was a good process to identify and evaluate a number of options that weren’t previously on the table.”

The report is expected to be adopted by the Local Board at its meeting next month.

The desire for a swimming pool in the North Rodney area has been established through a number of surveys and polls, conducted over many years. More than half of submissions on the Rodney Local Board Plan 2011-2013 requested a community swimming pool for the area.

The purpose of the facility has been identified as primarily for learning to swim, fitness, play and recreational use.

Meanwhile, Rodney Cr Penny Webster says it is great to see swimming champion Lauren Boyle supporting the #saveourpools campaign.“Water Safety NZ’s mission to keep school pools open is a great initiative and exactly what our councils need,” she says. “School pools are vital in rural areas and many children in the past have learnt water safety by using these pools. School pools are also an important recreational asset for our smaller communities.

“Central Government regulations have made it difficult for schools to keep their pools but hopefully campaigns such as these will help in the future.”