The Richmond Aquatic Centre is solely funded by Tasman District Council, but many of the district’s councillors don’t believe that should be the case.
Last week, the council held a workshop as it works towards developing its long-term plan for 2027-37.
The workshop explored the long-term funding options for council’s community facilities, including local halls, public toilets, community housing, and aquatic facilities.
In addition to the Richmond Aquatic Centre, the council also manages two former school pools, the Saltwater Baths in Motueka, and has formally deferred the planned Motueka Pool after unexpected servicing costs of $3 million pushed its price tag up to $23 million.
Reserves and facilities manager Grant Reburn told elected members that the council needed to look at the 22-year-old aquatic centre and consider its level of investment for the future.
“There is work that needs to be done to that facility. It’s well-used, it’s popular, and so we need to maintain it to a reasonable level.”
About $250,000 was spent over the last year, upgrading and replacing its ventilation systems, showers and toilets, tiling, and windows.
But the sauna, disabled changing room, roof and ceiling, and paint job have all also been identified for future work.
The council’s residents’ survey estimates that 95 percent of its 320,000 annual users were satisfied with the facility, which also includes a gym.
However, the council also subsidises the facility by about $280,000 per year.
Councillor Timo Neubauer said the aquatic centre was “clearly” a regional facility.
“We’ve got plenty of users coming from Nelson for that pool… is that something we could look at, to have discussions with Nelson City Council, to come to the party, and fund some of that?”
Nelson put $500,000 towards the facility’s original $8.9 million construction cost but contributes no operational funding despite the city’s own aquatic facilities strategy highlighting the Richmond Aquatic Centre as “a key part” of the city’s pool network.
Reburn thought Neubauer’s suggestion had “merit”, and he was not alone.
Councillor Kerryn Ferneyhough said it “would be cool” for the aquatic centre to be incorporated into the Saxton Field complex, which was jointly run and funded by the two councils.
Councillor Dean McNamara suggested that, if Nelson did not want to help fund the pool, Tasman should “run it into the ground for the next two or three years” before building a new one at Saxton Field, to share the costs.
Councillor Kit Maling said Nelson “can’t argue” about contributing funding to the aquatic centre.
“Schools from Nelson City come to use it, Birchwood School and Stoke School. I’ve seen them at the aquatic centre, but [Nelson Mayor] Nick [Smith] will just say we should amalgamate anyway.”
Maling was right.
“We’re happy to have the conversation,” Smith said.
“But you have to bring in all of those regional facilities, and it leads you to one place, and that is that’ll be more sensible for us to have a single council in Nelson and Tasman.”
He said Tasman residents frequently attend events in Nelson, such as those at the city council-funded Trafalgar Park or Theatre Royal, and that regional event funding was dominated by the city, highlighting the need for a “serious discussion” about merging.
When asked about Nelson’s aquatic strategy, Smith said the “artificial” border at Champion Road made “planning for everything, including aquatic centres”, less logical.
The “next logical investment” was in Motueka and he would be “quite happy” to support that town’s pool project in a combined council, he added.
Chair of the Joint Saxton Field Committee, Nelson councillor Campbell Rollo was similarly “always open to conversations”.
He hadn’t seen an analysis of the possibility and so would not take a position on the issue.
But he took the same view as Smith that co-funding the aquatic centre raised similar questions for the other facilities across the region.
“Both councils should be looking at joint facilities and how we can utilize them for the region better.”
The two councils will be considering their future budgets as they compile their next long-term plans for the coming decade.
