Western News: April 15, 2021
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WESTERN NEWS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Thursday <strong>April</strong> <strong>15</strong> <strong>2021</strong> 5<br />
Closing pool will impact community<br />
• From page 1<br />
Averill disputed what the city<br />
council forecasted it would cost<br />
to stay afloat, consisting of about<br />
$700,000 a year over the next<br />
decade “just to maintain it.”<br />
The club wanted to run the<br />
pool themselves instead or<br />
lease pool lanes at Parakiore.<br />
“I don’t understand how<br />
that’s possible. I’m confident<br />
we can get it down to $1.5 million<br />
in the next 20 years,” he<br />
said, as supposed to $7.7 million<br />
in the next 10 years.<br />
The swim club is one of the<br />
oldest in the country. The<br />
Wharenui Amateur Swim<br />
Club was founded in 1911 and<br />
was constructed as a memorial<br />
to the coronation of King<br />
George V.<br />
It has taught more than<br />
200,000 Cantabrians how to<br />
swim through its successful<br />
Learn to Swim programme.<br />
In its more than 100-year<br />
history, the club has produced<br />
many New Zealand representatives<br />
in swimming.<br />
Most recently it was Matt<br />
Hutchins at the 2016 Rio<br />
Olympics.<br />
Said Averill: “But our pool<br />
is focused on being a community<br />
pool, not so much for<br />
high-performance swimmers.<br />
We cater to the community<br />
AFLOAT: Wharenui Swim Club president Chris Averill<br />
is concerned about how plans to decommission<br />
Wharenui pool will impact the wider community.<br />
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN <br />
and ethnic groups – we have<br />
Wharenui School right next<br />
door, and we have a huge<br />
involvement with the Muslim<br />
community.<br />
“Our community are low<br />
decile, they walk to the facility<br />
and don’t want to catch multiple<br />
buses to go to elsewhere. A<br />
lot of them see how busy and<br />
crowded council pools are,<br />
so they would miss the quiet,<br />
community atmosphere.”<br />
Riccarton Ward councillor<br />
Catherine Chu has since met<br />
with the club and also supports<br />
its bid to stay open.<br />
“I’ve met with the general<br />
manager and with one of our<br />
residents and totally support<br />
them,” she said.<br />
“This facility has a history<br />
of over 100 years embedded<br />
in this community and it<br />
would be a great shame for it<br />
to close.”<br />
City council recreation and<br />
sport services manager David<br />
Bailey said the pool would<br />
reach the end of its life from<br />
2020 and needed replacing or<br />
decommissioning as identified<br />
within a 2006 Aquatic Facilities<br />
Plan.<br />
It was reviewed three times<br />
in the years that followed<br />
before plans to build the $21m<br />
Parakiore metro sports facility<br />
were decided.<br />
It would be the country’s<br />
largest aquatic facility; only<br />
a matter of kilometres away<br />
from Wharenui pool and other<br />
nearby pools.<br />
“The new facilities of<br />
Parakiore and Hornby will<br />
provide additional challenges<br />
to the financial sustainability<br />
the Wharenui club has experienced<br />
since the earthquake,”<br />
said Bailey.<br />
“Council staff will continue<br />
working with the Wharenui<br />
Swim Club to ensure the<br />
services available to the community<br />
in the Wharenui pool<br />
will continue to be available at<br />
Parakiore and/or the new pool<br />
at Hornby.”<br />
Draft Long Term Plan<br />
submissions close on Sunday.<br />
The petition will be presented<br />
at a city council meeting in the<br />
coming weeks.<br />
HAVE YOUR SAY:<br />
Should the city council<br />
decommission Wharenui<br />
Swimming Pool? Email<br />
your views to bea.<br />
gooding@starmedia.kiwi<br />
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