Hastings District Council has been weighing up the future of Frimley Pool.
Hastings District Council has been weighing up the future of Frimley Pool.
Hastings’ Frimley Pool will not reopen for the summer season and will likely never open again after 57 years of serving the community following a council decision.
Hastings District Council (HDC) made a decision on Thursday to keep the pool shut for the 2024/25 summer season, rather than fork outan unbudgeted repair bill of at least $77,000 to get it open by November.
A recent inspection of the facility found the public pool is in worse shape than what was previously thought, and further leaks have been discovered.
“It is a very sad recommendation to move but I truly believe it is the right one in today’s current environment.”
She earlier said “we don’t have the money” to pay for an unbudgeted repair of the pool, and the council can not rely “on increasing debt to pay for operating” costs.
Councillors voted 11-4 in favour of the summer closure and a move toward permanent closure.
Malcolm Dixon was one of the councillors who wanted to keep it open for another summer, and said Flaxmere Pool was being shut throughout January, meaning many people “have nowhere to go”.
Earlier this year, HDC proposed permanently closing Frimley Pool, which it claimed would save ratepayers about $250,000 a year, citing declining use of the once-popular facility.
However, a recent inspection of the facility discovered further leaks “with an unbudgeted repair bill ranging from $77,000 for a semi-permanent fix to $110,000 for a long-term solution”.
Hastings' Rush Hira with son Te Kahutaua, 9, outside Frimley Pool. He wanted to see it saved and improved. Photo / Paul Taylor
Council papers stated it would also cost about $750,000 over the next five years for ongoing maintenance work.
Frimley Pool is usually open to the public between November and February.
There are no clubs that use Frimley Pool as their regular base but some schools use it, particularly during Term 1.
A Hastings father, Rush Hira, told Hawke’s Bay Today earlier this year it would be a shame to see it close.
He takes his two youngest children there during summer, from Camberley, and grew up going there as a kid.
“It was our favourite place to go as kids,” he said. “It used to have a diving board and that was the main attraction. As a kid, it used to be jam-packed with people just for that.”
He said bringing a diving board back would up patronage.
Other pools around Hastings include Splash Planet, the new Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatic Centre and Flaxmere Pool.
The cost to demolish and put Frimley Pool back to grass will cost about $230,000, according to one quote.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
