Swimming Pool Rebuild
The existing swimming pool in Kaikōura on the Esplanade was closed in 2016 after it was damaged by the earthquake. Since then, Council has provided funding support for a temporary ‘pop-up’ pool.
Kaikōura is running a community led project to build a new indoor community pool over the next 4 years. By September 2019, a community based charitable trust will be formed to lead the project, a final site will be chosen, a fundraising strategy will be in place and the community hopes to have raised around $1.5 million in funding, grants and in kind sponsorship.
There is a lot of work to be done over the next six months and Council remains committed to helping the community progress this important project.
You can read all the background documents and past updated on the pool project below.
Background
Council are supporting the community to build a new indoor pool in the following ways;
- Contributing up to a total of $1million in capex towards a new pool across the 2018/19-2020/21 financial years, including $300k of insurance proceeds. This contribution is subject to the DIA funding being secured.
- Contributing up to $250k per annum in operating costs once the new pool is operational.
- Partnering with the Community Pool working group and new charitable Trust throughout this process.
The community will have a chance to their say on the plan as part of this year’s Annual Plan consultation in May/June.
Work towards a new pool has been ongoing. Check out the documents below for background information on the pool project.
- DRAFT KCPWG 6 month Project Plan (March 2019)
- Amberley Community Pool at a glance (March 2019)
- Lawrence Community Pool at a glance (March 2019)
- Mosgiel Community Pool at a glance (March 2019)
- Waiau Community Pool at a glance (March 2019)
- KCPWG report to Council (February 2019)
- KCPWG report to Council (January 2019)
- Swimming Pool Decision - Council Paper (December 2018)
- Indoor Pool Proposal - SRRLT (December 2018)
- Combined Sports Pool and Hall Proposal (December 2018)
- Sports Hub feasibility study (September 2018)
- Pool Feasibility Study (October 2017)
The Kaikōura Community Pool, previously known as the Lions Pool, was located on the Esplanade until it was damaged by the November 2016 earthquake. Planning for this pool started in 1966 and it was fundraised for and built by 1970. On 07 March 1970 it was opened by Peter Snell.
The pool project was a Lions and community joint project, with a paid coordinator being employed to prepare for, and supervise the working bees that occurred every Wednesday and Saturday. Bernie Brown and Bryan Seddon did an excellent job at rostering the largely unskilled and fully voluntary labour force that worked together to construct the pool.
Fundraising was collected through a variety of different avenues and community events - scrap iron sales, raffles for an Aston Greathead painting and a pony from Paul Harnett, as well as a grant from the Canterbury Education Board for $4000.
The changing rooms and toddler pool was a later addition to the facility and Kaikōura Lions Club also built planter boxes out of railway sleepers to beautify the swimming pool area.
The Lions Pool served the community for many years until 2016 when the earthquake damaged the facility. Council and the community are now working towards a new pool for the community.
*Many thanks to Lions member Melville Symes who provided Council with this information.
Local swimming facilities
Pop-up-pool- 'Pools in Schools' temporary pool: 10mx4m - Available for public use, during the summer (mid-October to the end of March) - Heated to 26⁰ and covered by a marquee - Location: on the Kaikōura Primary School netball courts (enter off the Esplanade) - Contact: Sport Tasman Kaikōura |
Kaikōura Primary School- Kaikōura Primary School pool: 11x5m - Covered and heated - Contact: Kaikōura Primary School - 03 319 5440
|
Dusky Lodge- Dusky Lodge pool - 67 Beach Rd - Outdoor and heated - Available to non-guests $5 per swim - Contact: Dusky Lodge - 03 319 5959
|
Past updates
22 March 2019
Stay tuned to have your say!
The Kaikōura Community Pool Working Group (KCPWG) met on Wednesday 20 March 2019 and worked together to put together a community led project to build a new indoor pool for Kaikōura over the next 4 years.
The working group have put together a plan for the next six months that hopes to see a community based charitable trust formed to lead the project, a final site chosen, a fundraising strategy In place and around $1.5 million in funding, grants and in kind sponsorship secured. The working group will be providing regular updates to Council and the community on the project’s progress.
The groups top preference is to see a new indoor pool built on Scarborough Street at a total estimated project cost of around $5.6 million. This will be split into two stages, with stage one costing $3.9million to develop the site and build an outdoor pool similar to the existing pool but to modern standards. Stage two sees an additional $1.7million to enclose this pool at a later date. The working group recommends Council support the formation of a Trust to ensure the project is community led.
Under the plan Council will partner with and support the trust through a project funding contribution of $1 million and a commitment to fund an operating cost of $250k per year as well as ongoing support to the working group and Trust throughout the project.
A total of three options will be presented to Council along with the plan for the way forward at their Council meeting next week. To arrive at these options, The group considered all options and work to date, approaches to pool projects of similar types in neighbouring districts and discussed and measured different pool options and sites against a matrix, to determine scores for both pool type and site.
Community members wanting to have their say about pool option and site will be able to provide feedback as part of the Annual Plan process later this year.
Working Group Chair, Councillor Craig Mackle is proud of the progress the working group has made, “It was good to see the working group get an understanding of each other's different viewpoints and then come together as one, to come up with what we believe to be a well-covered plan of attack,” he said.
"The expertise and experience of those on the working group really helped drive this project to a good point. We have some extremely passionate and knowledgeable people in the group who are a credit to the community. I can't wait to get stuck in and see the community rolling up their sleeves and coming together to make this happen."
Those wishing to express interest to be members of the trust, can send their name, contact details and reasons for wanting to be on the Trust, to kim.whitwell@kaikoura.govt.nz. Membership will be jointly decided by the working group/existing Trust members and Council. Applicants will need to be Police vetted and will be advised of the outcome of their application following Trust/Council meetings.
28 February 2019
A pool working group was formed in December 2018 to help Council make a final decision about a pool for the Kaikōura community. The working group was asked to review all the information and work to date, identify any other options for a pool, and discuss and agree how community fundraising and other funding could work and how long it may take.
The working group met in mid-February to look at the costs of the options being considered (indoor pool, uncovered outdoor pool, covered outdoor pool) and the options around finances and fundraising.
There are lots of ways to make a pool affordable - fundraising, rates, grants, in-kind donations and community efforts, what matters is understanding how long the community is willing to wait and how much they are willing to pay. From there, Council and the working group can 'fill in the blanks' and make sensible and realistic decisions based on good information.
The most recent meeting was another step forward but also highlighted that Council staff and the working group have a lot of work left to do before we have the information we need to be able to work together to make good decisions.
The working group felt strongly that a pool is needed immediately in the community but that a repair of the existing pool is not suitable to meet the needs of the community. A rebuild of a similar pool in the same site remains a viable option, especially as part of a staged project where roofing or other improvements could be added over time.
Council staff and working group members are now working hard to find and consider all the missing information before the next meeting in mid-March. This includes looking at several nearby examples of pools to see what they cost and how the projects to build them were run, rechecking how much Council can contribute and how much a pool on a different site would add to the total project cost.
What happened at the meeting?
An independent financial expert had reviewed all available information and presented his findings. The key themes were:
- Pools nationwide do not usually come in on budget. Best practice is to set a budget that allows for things to go wrong, to take longer or to be improved as the project develops.
- Fundraising often takes longer than expected and sponsorship often has short-term appeal for projects (like pools) that, over time become seen as Council facilities.
- At this stage in any project, all costs are estimates. These estimates can often change as much as 30% up or down.
- The SRRLT proposal for an indoor pool was good quality but assumed very high levels of funding would be found.
- The major issue for Council is the annual cost generated by any pool. The annual costs are made up of running costs (operational/opex) plus the interest on any associated debt. These costs could range from $182,000 - $1,500,000 depending on the option and site chosen, fundraising, grants and sponsorship secured.
- The rates impact of funding this cost would be determined by Councils rating policy.
DIA (Department of Internal Affairs) staff also attended the working group meeting, to help the working group understand what funding may be available from Lotteries. Two core funds can be considered for the pool project:
- The Lottery Hurunui Kaikōura Marlborough Community Facilities Earthquake Fund (the CFEQ Fund); and
- The Lottery Community Facilities Fund.
DIA recommended Kaikōura make an application to the first fund within 6 months to give us the best chance of securing the funding. However, to do that, all major decisions (like the pool type, funding and site) need to be made before making an application.
It is likely that funding of around $900,000 could be available through the CFEQ Fund. This figure comes from the amount that it would cost to repair the existing pool at the existing location (currently estimated to be $1.2 million), minus the insurance monies ($300,000).
All other associated costs to rebuild (not repair) a pool (such as site preparation at a new location), would not be covered and would need to be fund-raised, covered by Council of funded from other sources.
Although there are other Lotteries funds, they are very competitive and pool applications are not normally successful.
The working group also discussed what Council could contribute to a pool. Council has already indicated its willingness to contribute land if possible.
Under Councils financial strategy and with all the other work and risks Council must take into account, Council may be able to contribute up to $1 million towards building a new pool in the short term. This is an estimate only, would require Council decisions and may come at a cost to ratepayers.
Council would also contribute an annual amount towards the running costs. There are a range of options for how Council could do this, all of which would need to understand what the community is willing to pay and what Councils other commitments and risks are.
Work is underway to get some usable estimates.
Restarting a trust for community facilities was discussed as an option for managing the pool project or the pool itself in the future. The working group will discuss this in more depth at their next meeting.
The working group agreed that Churchill Park should be removed as a potential site from all further pool discussions.
25 January 2019
Council received an update from the Pool Working Group in the January Council meeting. The working group was formed in December 2018 to review all the information and work done to date, identify any other options, agree how community fundraising and other funding could work and how long it may take.
The Working Group includes Councillor Craig Mackle, community members Murray Lassen and Toni Batey, sports group representatives John Diver, Mark Fissenden and Mayor Winston Gray, Rūnanga member Darran Kerei-Keepa and Youth Council member Petra Jellyman. An independent financial consultant Dave Foster will also be reviewing all options and figures to help the working group with its decisions.
At their first meeting, the group agreed that a pool should aim to caters for all ages, be used all year round, be open as soon as possible, be affordable to build and run, be designed for the future and take into account the needs of the Kaikōura community for the next 50 years. Based on these ideas, the working group agreed that, regardless of what the finished design may look like, a staged build may be considered if it is the quickest way to get a community pool built and open. Stage 1 would likely be a modern outdoor facility similar to the Lions pool. Stages 2, 3, and so on, could then include a roof or cover, additional amenities or sports facilities.
The working group understands that building the pool in this way will help maximise the external funding that can be applied for. It may not be ideal, but in a community of our size we have to balance what we’d like to build against what we’re able to pay for and it may be that a staged build is a best way to spread costs out.
The working group will continue meeting and developing ideas for the next two months then provide a final report to Council in late March.
If you have any ideas to share or would like more information about the pool, please get in touch with one of the working group representative or Kim Whitwell at kim.whitwell@kaikoura.govt.nz.
20 December 2018
The pool was a key focus of the December 19th Council meeting. Council heard from a number of community representatives and the SRRLT and spent a significant amount of time considering a report from Council staff about the way forward. Council acknowledged the work undertaken by SRRLT to date on this project and thanked Sport Tasman (Nigel Muir), Mark Fissenden, Kim Boyce-Campbell and Winston Gray for their efforts in preparing their proposal for an indoor pool facility. Council also acknowledged the work undertaken by John Diver and his team to date on this project and thanked them for their efforts in preparing their proposal.
Council decided not to repair the existing pool as an interim solution, instead they agreed the following way forward:
1. A working group will be formed to:
- Review all the information gathered to date on pool options
- Identify and assess any other options
- Verify both capital and opex costs for all options
- Form a view on the realisation of community fundraising and on realistic targets and timeframes for this.
2. Appoint the following people to the working group:
- Councillor as Chair (Craig Mackle)
- A financial expert with experience in assessments of similar projects including funding options (in consultation with the CEO)
- A member of the community
- A member of the Rūnanga.
3. Invite the members of the SRRLT to be part of this working group.
4. Request that the working group report back to Council by 31 March 2019.
The existing pool site will sit unused until at least April 2019. This gives the Working Group and Council time to decide what the long term solution for a pool and for the existing site are. Because any decisions about the pool are likely to significantly affect the future of our community and have a cost to our ratepayers, options around the pool must be included as part of the Annual Plan consultation 2019-2020.
Council also agreed that the Working Group will be able to invite additional members as required/needed.
The Working Group will get underway early in 2019 including a call for expressions of interest for a community representative.
Read the supporting documents here:
15 August 2018
Kaikōura’s Sport and Recreation Recovery Leadership Team (SRRLT) and Kaikōura District Council conducted consultation around design, location and affordability of a new pool.
The existing community pool was damaged in the 2016 earthquake, since then the community has been making do with a pop-up pool funded by Council. Community consultation following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake showed a strong desire for a new community pool. Since then, SRRLT have worked to develop ideas for a new pool site, design and funding.
Mayor Winston Gray says, “As part of its Three Year Plan Council committed to making a final decision on a permanent pool solution in December 2018. This consultation will give our community a say in that decision. I encourage everyone to complete a survey and let the SRRLT and Council know what you value most in a community pool, what you’re prepared to pay for it and where you’d like it to be built. We want to make a decision that best represents what the community wants and to do that we need to hear directly from the people who will be paying for and using the new pool.”
“It’s really important that the community is engaged every step of the way and I want to thank the SRRLT for the amount of effort they have put into this great piece of work. It is a real credit to their passion and dedication to sport and recreation in Kaikōura – we are lucky to have so many people like them in the community,” Gray said.
Sport and Recreation Recovery Leadership Team Chairman Mark Fissenden said, “Kaikōura has wanted a new pool for some time and this consultation will bring us one step closer to making that happen. I firmly believe that we can make a new pool happen and that it would bring benefits to Kaikōura’s community wellbeing, sport and tourism sectors. Right now, our pool facilities just aren’t up to scratch –a new pool would benefit everyone from our youth learning to swim, to our elderly who would have a heated indoor year round pool to use for fitness and fun.”
Community consultation happened from 1 July to 15 August 2018.
25 July 2018
Council are deferring any decisions on the pool until December this year and have committed $700,000 over the next three years to work towards a new pool.
Council did not feel they had the technical and financial information needed to make an informed decision on the plans for a new pool - this doesn't mean that work towards a new pool has halted.
We are committed to working with the community and key stakeholders to find the best long-term solution, but need your input to know what you would like to see in terms of affordability, location and design.
The pop-up pool will continue to operate while Council staff and the Sport and Recreation Leadership Team work hard to gather all the right information to present to Council in December, so that they can make the best decision going forward.
By filling out the current pool consultation survey, you are helping us build a big picture view, that will help Council make a decision based on what you, the community, would like to see happen in the pool space.
Consultation runs until 15 August and you can complete the survey online, by hardcopy at the Library or in person at the pool caraven (dates and times below). Speak up and have your say - help us provide Council with the information they need to make an informed decision in December!
Read more about the 3 Year Plan 2018-2021 here.
Useful links
- We welcome questions and input – please contact Amy Taylor to see how you can be involved with the pool and sport in Kaikōura
- Read more about sport in Kaikōura
- Sport Tasman website
- Sport Tasman Kaikōura Facebook page
15 April 2019
