Aquatic community consultation underwhelming

Just five people showed up for the Bass Coast Shire’s first community consultation session on the proposed aquatic centre in Cowes last week.
But while the numbers were glaringly small – for the eight online meetings that were held every half hour last Wednesday – the five attendees who did log on passionately advocated for a pool in Cowes.

There were four shire staff who attended each session, who speculated whether people had lost interest or were unsure about technology, but they said so far there had been more than 200 online survey responses.
Both Covid-19 lockdown and the power outage have thrown the community consultation sessions into disarray, with planned meetings rescheduled twice and the next planned for Wednesday, June 23 9am to 1pm at the Phillip Island Leisure Centre.

“If we’re inundated, we will put on extra sessions,” explained shire aquatics project manager Jarvis Weston.
“What we need is feedback on the design. We want to know if the community likes it.”

Jarvis, who gave a powerpoint presentation, said they also needed to gauge community support for both the proposed Cowes aquatic centre and the proposed rebuild of Wonthaggi’s pool.

“The key message we want to get across is that we need to be aligned. The shire has a two-pool strategy. It’s costing a lot of money and we need funding from government.
“If government sees disharmony in the community they won’t fund it.”
He said it was unusual to get both a state and federal election in the same year so once the shire collated community feedback they would begin lobbying for government funding in the lead up to 2022.
“Next year is a golden opportunity,” Jarvis said.

Competition pool

South Coast Bus and Taxi managing director Michael Wright was the first attendee at the online meeting who asked whether “it was an all or nothing approach”.
“Or could Cowes be done and Wonthaggi updated later?” Michael asked, saying he was a keen swimmer but travelling 40 minutes to Wonthaggi was not viable for his family.
Jarvis responded it was possible “one could be done before the other.

“All the advice by government though is to put both up together. If we do one now and another in the future government will say you have already had money given.”
Michael asked why the feasibility study for both pools recommended a 25-metre pool, rather than a competition 50-metre pool.
“I understand the cost of running it but what is the thinking there?” he asked, adding that school students will still have to drive to Korumburra’s competition pool.
“When you’re spending this sort of money it seems a disappointing outcome not to have a 50-metre pool.”

Jarvis said under the modelling in the feasibility studies, it was not viable to have a competition pool with Bass Coast’s 50,000 population.
“It’s coming through from the community they would like a 50-metre pool.
“If we get funding they need to be financially sustainable. In the past facilities in other areas have been built and become a financial drain and not sustainable.”

Commercial funding?

Attendee Caroline agreed driving 40 minutes to Wonthaggi was not viable for her family and a pool in Cowes to teach children to swim was “desperately needed”.
She said retirees also needed an aquatic centre for hydrotherapy programs, while a centre would also be a drawcard for tourists.

Attendee Tony asked whether the shire had a plan for the total 32-hectare site on the corner of Phillip Island Road and Ventnor Road, which is set to be a recreational hub with ovals and sports courts.

Jarvis said shire officers were not yet able to access the carnival site, with the current owners set to vacate at the end of June.
“We would have liked to have done the masterplan but it will be done soon,” he explained.
Tony asked whether parts of the 32ha site could be used for commercial shops to fund the recreation hub.
Jarvis said the masterplan’s “primary purpose” was sport for the next 50 years and the shire was exploring health and wellbeing options, including consulting suites for allied health.

“You are right, we need to make these facilities as economically viable as possible,” Jarvis said.
Tony commented that he was familiar with a Pakenham aquatic centre that had design mistakes and he would like to ensure that did not occur with Cowes.
Jarvis replied the next stage of community consultation would involve feedback on detailed designs.

“At the moment it’s lines on a map. It’s a functional layout. This is just the first step in a number of phases and we want to learn from others’ mistakes.”

Study

The feasibility study proposes Phillip Island should have a 25m x eight lane pool, learn-to-swim combined hydrotherapy area, 24-hour gym, and two indoor sports courts, at a cost of $52 million.

The study recommends a $41 million new pool for Wonthaggi – with the current pool built in 1975 – including 25m x 10 lanes, a larger gym, new spa and sauna.

Phillip Island Aquatic Centre Fund secretary Peter McMahon said while they supported the shire in seeking joint funding, if a decision had to be made on one pool, it should be Cowes.

He said Cowes needed a dedicated pool for hydrotherapy and another for learn-to-swim.
“They tried combining facilities at Wonthaggi and it failed.”

The study states the option of constructing a 50-metre pool “has been analysed but found to not be sustainable”, based on population size and on the extra $8 million such a pool would require to construct, as well as the annual $250,000 operation costs.

It adds a 50-metre pool could be constructed in the future.

The survey can be found at www.basscoast.vic.gov.au/services/projects/aquatics or call 56712211 or aquatics@basscoast.vic.gov.au