Stall the $41m pool: All three Napier mayoral candidates want 'time out' on city's largest capital investment

The three people who want to be Napier's mayor are calling for the stalling of all work on the $41m Napier aquatic centre and a new consultation process and city council decision after the triennial local elections.

Based on an injunction application lodged by residents group Friends of the Onekawa Aquatic Centre, the High Court has already determined no contract can be set before a full hearing of an application seeking a ruling that the council did not follow a correct process and that the issue should be sent back to the table.

The hearing is scheduled for September 3-October 2, less than a fortnight before the election ends on October 12.

In a statement to Hawke's Bay Today , conceding "personal reservations" about both the $40 million-plus pools price-tag and the planned aquatic centre's site, mayoral candidate Chris Tremain said he doesn't want to be responsible for the project.

"All new councillors will find themselves in exactly the same position. This is a recipe for disaster in the new council".

The tendering process for a new aquatic centre on a site on northern Napier ring-road Prebensen Dr, spelling an end to the current Onekawa complex, is under way, and earthworks will soon start on the site.

Tremain said with no tender yet awarded and no construction contract signed it is "not too late to call time out".

"The new council needs to own the decision and must, in my opinion, be given the opportunity to vote on that decision," he said.

Two-term councillor and fellow mayoral candidate Kirsten Wise, who at the council table voted against the Prebensen Dr project, told Hawke's Bay Today she had been advocating for over a year for the proposed aquatic centre to go back out to our community for proper consultation including calling an extraordinary council meeting last year demanding for this to happen.

"When I'm out door-knocking the new pool is one of the issues I get asked about the most, and it is very clear to me that many people are not happy with this proceeding and do not feel the consultation was adequate," she said.

"It does not surprise me therefore to hear that Chris Tremain is also stating further consultation is required.

"It is the only position that is acceptable to our community and it is what I have been fighting for all along."

The current decision, while made by a majority of councillors — a 7-6 vote in favour after Acting Mayor Faye White exercised a casting vote — was "highly contentious", Tremain said.

Those not seeking re-election include White and Mayor Bill Dalton, whose decision was made long before he suffered a stroke in April.

Tremain said many of the councillors who voted on the issue are leaving the council.

"There will be at least 5 of 13 changes, possibly more," he said. "There will be a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor responsible for carrying the pool decision."

"The city has a range of core infrastructure issues it must prioritise," he said. "We have dirty water, we have chlorine in our water, we are pumping sewage into our Estuary. A new council needs to be very clear about its spending priorities.

"I have personal reservations about the size of the spend (alongside other priorities) and the location of the proposed pool," he said.

"I am also concerned about the wider pool strategy, how it involves the Greendale Pool in Taradale, the Soak complex on the Marine Parade and the proposed 50-metres pool at the Regional Sports Park (in Hastings)."

He said voters needed to be aware that calling "time out" was "not without significant cost," but he said Napier residents would be prepared to shoulder that cost to ensure the best outcome for the city.

Third mayoral candidate David Hannay believes the pool vote outcome was wrongly a management-based decision with at least some councillors not properly informed and not being prepared to "stand-up".

He said consultation was not properly done, there were big public concerns about the cost, and he doesn't support the Prebensen Dr development and the closing of the Onekawa aquatic centre.

While a range of Napier City and other council candidacies have been announced by hopefuls, nominations had by Wednesday still not reached the stage of requiring elections in any of the four Napier electoral wards.