Costs rising at Whanganui swimming facilities but so are visitor numbers

There are "substantial cracks" on the bottom of the Whanganui East Pool. Photo / Bevan Conley

The Splash Centre is back to running at full capacity but costs have exceeded expectations since Whanganui District Council brought operations at the facility in-house in September last year.

The Splash Centre and Whanganui East Pool were previously run by the Community Recreation Services Trust.

A report from council general manager of community and customer experience Marianne Cavanagh said the net cost of operating the Splash Centre was $1,240,396 in 2021/22, with a target of $1,329,704 for 2022/23.

However, the net cost came in at $1,490,590.

Operating the Whanganui East Pool last summer had a net cost of $102,845, bringing the total to $1,593,798.

Additional costs at the Splash Centre were unplanned maintenance ($103,354), consultancy support for the transition of operations to council ($46,225) and training costs for additional lifeguards ($15,252).

Insurance costs increased by 16 per cent and electricity increased by $40,000 per year.

Cavanagh told a council operations and performance committee the main cost associated with Whanganui East was resourcing.

“There were some days where we had two or three lifeguards out there and one person turned up to swim, all day.

“That’s instantly putting you in the negative of cost efficiency to run. This year, we are looking at opening earlier and changing the hours so when schools go back in January - only being open for school bookings.”

An opening date for Whanganui East is yet to be announced.

Cavanagh said a new booking system - Envibe - was on its way for the Splash Centre.

“Whether you’re booking a swimming lesson or coming in to use the gym, whatever you’re doing, it will all be through one system.

“It will be online as well. People will be able to see live availability of the lanes. That is pretty exciting.”

Her report said a large recruitment drive was undertaken once the facilities went back in-house, with an additional 14 qualified lifeguards, two trainee learn-to-swim instructors and four cashier/receptionists being employed.

The Splash Centre returned to full operating hours as a result.

A new online booking system will give people live availability of lanes. Photo / Bevan Conley

Councillor Michael Law said he had been hounded at a football field by parents telling him how useless the council was at providing swimming lessons.

Cavanagh said there had been “huge steps forward” in that area.

In term 2 this year there were 829 students in learn-to-swim classes, a record.

Three more three pre-school classes, and four after-school classes were introduced in term 4.

“Many of the complaints we receive around swimming lessons are because people want particular days or they have multiple children and they want them on the same day, or they need to fit them in between soccer and ballet,” Cavanagh said.

“That’s not actually our concern. We often have availability, it’s just not when some families want it.”

Mayor Andrew Tripe said feedback prior to the council taking over operations was that parents were taking their children to Marton for lessons.

Cavanagh said two new aquatots classes had been introduced but school-aged children needed after-school or weekend hours.

“We are hoping the online Envibe system will make it a lot clearer. If you’ve booked your child in, as they progress you don’t have to do a rebook each time.

“There has been a bit of frustration from some users. They will go through a term and try and rebook. It’s been referred to as like the Hunger Games - getting in first to do it.”

There were 148,302 entries into the Splash Centre in 2022/23, compared to 92,234 the year prior, which was affected by Covid-19.

Between January 9 and April 1, there were 8285 users at the Whanganui East Pool.

Councillor Rob Vinsen said there were “substantial cracks” across the bottom of the Whanganui East Pool, which were leaking despite being repaired.

He said the filtration unit at Whanganui East wasn’t up to the necessary standard.

Cavanagh said there would be a point-of-entry business case submitted to the council’s long-term plan to address those issues.

“It is a political decision of how much you want to invest in there.

“At the moment, we keep putting band-aids over the cracks and the leaks.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.