Council to plunge into city aquatics master plan

The future of Otumoetai's swimming pool and the construction of new pool complexes in Tauranga's big growth areas are among issues to be thrashed out in a new aquatics master plan for the city.
Tauranga City Council has begun a year-long public process to deliver a new aquatics strategy.
The council needs to plan well in advance so it can tap into development contributions to help pay for new aquatic centres or major expansions of existing complexes.
The strategy will identify how to make best use of existing aquatic facilities, what the city needs for the future and how new aquatic centres would be funded.
It will also guide how Tauranga City Aquatics Ltd (TCAL) will manage the aquatics network which consists of the Baywave TECT Aquatic and Leisure Centre, the Greerton Aquatic and Leisure Centre, the Otumoetai Pool, the Mount Hot Pools and the Memorial Pool.
The strategy will be a two-stage process, starting with consultation in November on a discussion paper and consultation next May on the draft strategy.
Baywave's debt was partly funded by development contributions in which a one-off fee of $106 was levied on every new house built in Tauranga until 2021.
Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby told a council meeting this week that it needed to get stakeholders such as swimming clubs involved from the outset, not partway through.
Cr David Stewart said the council had to be careful not to raise expectations in the community because the days of relying on ratepayers to subsidise swimming pools were numbered: "People need to be realistic of what it costs to run them."
Cr Bill Faulkner said the council also needed input from people without a vested interest in aquatics, or else the consultation process would be one-sided.
Cr Catherine Stewart questioned whether it would be a more productive process without the involvement of TCAL, the council-owned company which owns and operates the aquatics network. Cr Murray Guy said TCAL would be a significant partner in the discussions, while Cr David Stewart said TCAL and the council should be working together.
TCAL chairman Warren Banks told the council it was 12 months since the company moved to secure the aquatic facilities from LeisureCo, days before LeisureCo went into receivership. The business was now in good heart and he looked forward to a second year of TCAL operating the aquatics network. "We have been through a massive test and I feel we have come out the other end."
Cr Hayden Evans then said there had been questions on Mr Banks' performance in the last 12 months.
Cr David Stewart cut him off, saying "We are focusing on the strategy now".