Public views sought as Napier public pool costs grow by up to $30m

The Napier Aquatic Centre at Onekawa Park in 2020, when the city council budgeted $500,000 to investigate the site's suitability. Photo / NZME

A new aquatic centre in Napier could cost $30 million more than the project mothballed by the Napier City Council three years ago.

The projections were unveiled at a meeting on Thursday at which the council by an 11-1 majority voted to put two location options out for public consultation in the hope the people will help the council decide by early July, before it goes into a three-month, major-decision hiatus before the local elections.

Impacted by geotechnical and site stability issues, a new centre at Onekawa Park, home of the current facilities, could cost over $100 million, while a new facility on the corner of Prebensen and Tamatea drives could cost over $70m.

Each dwarfs the $41m which had been forecast for the Prebensen-Tamatea site decided on in acting-mayor casting vote in 2019 but paused firstly by an injunction in the High Court and then by a new mayor and a newly-elected council with five new members.

The new council in 2020 budgeted $500,000 for comparable assessments of the two sites and has since received extensive reports comparing the two sites, with information not previously available to councillors, but despite the subterranean issues at Onekawa and the wide variation in costs, councillors have decided against putting a preferred option before the public.

They decided to direct staff to prepare consultation material and plan for the new facility in two stages.

In the first stage, in time for a decision to be made by July, the public will be consulted on the location, existing design and indicative costs of the two options.

Submissions would be open for four weeks, followed by hearings if need be.
In the second stage next year, consultation will take place on the final design, timing and funding as a 2021-2031 Long Term Plan amendment.

The council resolution includes signalling future consultation on development of the rejected site, particularly Onekawa Park - which is a reserve and as council CEO Dr Stephane Rotarangi noted, couldn't be redeveloped for such things as high-rise accommodation under that reserve designation.

In a lengthy resolution setting the pathway, the council endorsed the provision of $4m in capital funding in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 years as needed to keep the Onekawa facilities operating "to the best of its ability for the next 3-4 years" and an additional $80,000 of operational expenditure per year of the "remaining life of the asset to enable repair and maintenance of end-of-life components" – all pending the opening of new facilities.

It was projected a Tamatea facility could open as early as September 2026, but a new facility at Onekawa Park would not be open before January 2029.

Discussing the need for consultation, Mayor Kirsten Wise said she was "not comfortable" about the council making a decision for such a costly project at a time it was facing such issues as the possibility of selling its rental housing, which is also going to public consultation with other options for the future of the accommodation.