Sink or Swim - EAST, SOUTH, CENTRAL, NORTH, WEST

Aucklanders are dipping out on life-saving swimming lessons because of a lack of public pools. Candice Reed and Jacqueline Smith report
Nikki and Derek Ferigo don't mind making the hour-long round trip to and from Pakuranga four times a week for their four children's swimming lessons and training sessions, but they know other families don't have the flexibility.
Mrs Ferigo explains: ``Our philosophy is swimming is a life skill that all New Zealand children should have, particularly those living on a beach like us. It's basic. Kids shouldn't be going out on boats or playing at the beach when they don't actually know how to look after themselves in the water.'
Water Safety New Zealand has expressed concern that less than 25 per cent of 12-year-olds are able to swim 200m.
Manukau City has six public swimming pools and, while the southern suburbs are serviced well (Manurewa, Mangere, Papatoetoe, Otara and Totara Park), people in the wider eastern suburbs believe they miss out.
The closest public pool to Beachlands and Maraetai is Lloyd Elsmore in Pakuranga. It's a half hour drive, ``depending on traffic', each way.
For this reason, the community has begun a campaign for a new pool at Te Puru Park.
Graeme Leggat, of Te Puru Community Trust, says the community has gone through a needs-analysis and has studied the feasibility of building a local pool. A business plan is being developed.
Mr Leggat will present this information to Manukau City Council early next year when the council reviews its 10-year long-term plan.
``If you're not part of that plan, you don't get a look in,' says Mr Leggat. ``Council reviews that every three years and it's up for review next year.'
Last year, there were more than one million visits to public pools in Manukau City - Lloyd Elsmore recorded just over 600,000 of those. There's currently a waiting list for swimming lessons and more adults are also enrolling.
``This year, we are looking to increase attendance to learn-to-swim lessons and further develop the schools' utilisation of learn-to-swim and aquatic skill classes we deliver,' a city spokesperson adds.
To date, the council is planning a $2 million refurbishment of Otara's pool and is building a community pool for Flat Bush in 2014. There is no word of Beachlands/Maraetai being successful, but Mr Leggat is hopeful.
``We're the only ward in Manukau that hasn't got a swimming pool and, while we don't want anything as grandiose as all the others, we think it's very essential our kids have the opportunity to learn to swim,' he explains.
Mrs Ferigo agrees. Her four children are Justin 15, Becky 14, Dion 11 and Conor, 9. ``Realistically, by the time we get the pool, my youngest will be in his mid-teens, so we, personally, won't get as much use as other, younger families,' she says.
``But it's not about us running our own children around, it's about having a local and accessible pool for everyone out here.'
Pool shortages are an issue across the Eastern Bays where families battle commuter traffic to get their young to Glen Innes Aquatic Centre.
One of six Auckland City Council-owned pools open all year, Glen Innes attracts visitors from a wide area with its swim club, water safety and seniors' programmes, aqua-aerobics classes and facilities for disabled people.
``Overall, numbers are rising, especially over the summer,' says Andrea Wilkie, Y-Swim School manager. ``Children in the classes come from all over - Mission Bay, Glendowie, St Heliers.
Their parents would have to do battle with the after-school traffic to get them here on time.' Pt England and St Heliers primaries are two schools that can offer kids term-time swimming lessons a perk that comes from being close to Glen Innes pool.
At 11, Lorenz Wijnschenk is one such lucky youngster benefiting from regular pool exercise. ``I love the idea they have a period of swimming every day,' says Lorenz's mother, Marisa.
``It's a real shame other schools don't have those facilities. When it's a case of getting the kids on a bus and travelling to the pool, I don't think they would get to go as frequently.'
More recently, the council added a teaching pool at Onehunga's Aquasport Centre and funding has been set aside for a similar set-up at Mt Albert's Philips Aquatic centre.
Yet, despite identifying a need for a new pool to serve growing demand in St Johns and Remuera, no progress has been made.
Otahuhu is one area long considered to be in dire need of a pool. Most schools in Otahuhu don't have swimming pools and the ones that do struggle to maintain them. One of the closest pools to Otahuhu is in Papatoetoe. The next closest is in Panmure.
Otahuhu father of three Colin Wright says local kids miss out on learning basic water safety. He didn't learn to swim until in his late teens and says teaching his own children, now 21, 20 and 14 years, was very important.
``We love the water, so, as a parent, my biggest fear was anything happening to my kids in the water,' he says. ``If I hadn't taught my kids to swim and they got into difficulty I couldn't live with myself.'
Mr Wright and his wife, Ruby, travelled to Panmure and Papatoetoe when the children were younger for swimming lessons.
He says that option is not available to most residents of Otahuhu, but building a pool in the town centre will motivate them.
``When [the council] started to redevelop the community complex, the first thing they built was a basketball court. No kids have ever drowned on a basketball court,' he adds.
Over on the North Shore, growth in the city's north end has also led to a drastic need for a new pool. Locals are hoping the proposal to build a regional swimming pool at North Harbour Stadium will provide more options for them, but a date for construction has not yet been decided.
West Auckland is considered well served with the massive West Wave swimming complex, but there are still concerns that some people in the area miss out. Centre manager Mark Blake says another 50m public pool somewhere in the Auckland region would help free up pool space at West Wave.
The north-west of Auckland is an area earmarked for a possible pool complex. Avondale is another. Auckland City Council has confirmed it will spend just over $10 million on a complex it hopes to build between 2014 and 2016.
Meanwhile, the campaign continues for a community swimming pool at Beachlands/Maraetai - the only Manukau City ward without a community swimming pool - which could save lives.