Auckland City hits swimming pool users with 7.7pc hike

Auckland City has taken advantage of the 2.2 per cent GST rise by increasing their entry fees. Photo / Auckland

Auckland City has taken advantage of the 2.2 per cent GST rise to whack swimming pool users with two years of inflation increases as well.

Adults are paying 40c more at most pools for a single swim - a 7.7 per cent rise to $5.60 - and the price for children has risen by 8 per cent, or 20c, to $2.70c.

Non-swimmers such as parents keeping an eye on their children have been hit by a 10 per cent increase, from $1 to $1.10.

A noticeboard at Mt Roskill's Cameron Pool was yesterday labelling all the increases imposed on Friday as "GST price changes", a practice criticised by Consumer NZ chief executive Suzanne Chetwin as "essentially misleading".

The city council's website says they are also the result of an annual review of charges, without giving swimming pool patrons more details.

But council arts, community and recreational services group manager Kevin Marriott confirmed that the new charges included a catch-up of two years of inflation increases on top of the Government's GST rise, a fact which he said had been explained very clearly to pool operators.

These amounted to 2.9 per cent inflation in 2008-09, after which the council did not raise pool charges, compounded by 2 per cent more over the past year.

Waitakere City has raised the adult price for a swim at its West Wave aquatic centre in Henderson by 10c or 1.5 per cent, from $6.40 to $6.50, and the charge for children by 2.3 per cent, from $4.30 to $4.40.

Swim prices are unchanged at North Shore City's Glenfield pool, at $6 for an adult and $4 for a child, although the adult charge for a combined swim and sauna has risen from $8 to $9.

Entry to Manukau City's six public pools remains free, with Mayor Len Brown believing the social benefits outweigh a $7 million annual cost to ratepayers and offering to roll out the policy across the region if he wins the Super City leadership race and subject to the agreement of local boards.

Asked about Auckland City's new charges, he said: "I'd be concerned if people were being priced out of going to the pool. In Manukau we have free pools, which keeps kids healthy and active, teaches them to swim and keeps them off the streets."

Auckland City mayor John Banks, who was pictured in the Herald last week on his Super City leadership campaign trail paddling with young swimmers at the Waiwera hot pools, has said it would cost $12 million a year to provide free entry to pools in his existing territory.

Water Safety NZ general manager Matt Claridge said price rises were always a drawback to his cause but public swimming pools still offered "incredibly high" recreational and entertainment value compared with the cost of other attractions such as the movies and ten-pin bowling.