The curveball of a potential $3 million funding glitch is not derailing community efforts to build an aquatic centre for Motueka, with fundraising taking another step forward.
Motueka Community Board is the latest organisation to throw its support behind the project, handing over a cheque for $35,000 last week after invoking its “exceptional circumstances” clause to give an amount beyond its standing threshold of $12,500.
Community board chairperson Claire Hutt says the decision was unanimous among the board's four members.
“We’ve supported the pool for many years in the annual plan submissions, but we hadn’t given one dollar,” she says. “We wanted to rectify that and show the community the confidence we have that the pool is going to happen.”
Motueka’s Lions Club has long earmarked a therapeutic pool within the aquatic centre as its centenary project and has also reaffirmed its support. President Mike Brown congratulated the community board for its donation, calling it a “powerful vote of confidence” in the project.
In late June, Motueka’s Rotary Club president Paul Heywood presented pool committee chairperson Ross Loveridge with a cheque for $32,000, the result of two fundraising golf tournaments.
Ross thanked Paul for the club’s donation, which he called “both significant and very timely”.
“It shows the depth and breadth of support across Motueka,” he said, reiterating that the town has spent decades working towards the project and affirming that the pool committee would continue to forge ahead with its fundraising efforts.
The recent donations come against the backdrop of yet another stumbling block for the beleaguered project. The aquatic centre is expected to cost $20 million, with $4.4 million to be raised through community contributions, $11.7 million from reserve financial contributions, and $3.9 million from Tasman District Council-funded loans. To date, the community has raised about $1.7 million.
However, Motueka’s councillors were blindsided to learn that a further cost of up to $3m has been identified to get water to and from the proposed King Edward Street site.
At the Motueka Rotary meeting in June, Motueka ward councillor and deputy mayor Brent Maru told the crowd the news of the oversight had been delivered five minutes before the councillors were due to confirm the annual plan.
“How we got there has probably been the angriest moment I’ve ever had inside of council in my life,” he said, while accepting his own place around the council table when the original decisions were made.
“Everybody… sitting around that table had an opportunity to ask, do you think we’ve looked to see if we can get water to the pool? Do you think we’ve looked to see if we’ve got wastewater capacity to get water from the pool? It wasn’t asked because we assumed that had been done.”
Brent explained that showers and auxiliary water legally need to be of drinking water standards, but there are no public water facilities on King Edward Street. “It ends on High, so to put that water through is a significant cost.”
In the coming weeks, council workshops are expected to provide more clarity on the issue, including exact costs and who would be expected to pay them. In the meantime, Brent is urging the community to be vocal in its support for the project.
“It is just a pause, but for it to keep going, we absolutely do need your support.”
He says the council is working on Tasman's Long Term Plan and that "once the draft is written, the ink is starting to dry".
Speaking to The Guardian this week, Brent says it is important to understand that the Motueka pool project is a community project.
“The community have my support as an elected member to see this project through, but it is essential that your voices are heard. Be vocal in your support. Don’t wait until the Long Term Plan comes out for submissions, let us know now that you want an aquatic centre for Motueka.”
