Torquay laps up pool deal
Construction hinges on extra $8.5m
THE Surf Coast Shire will build a $38.5 million aquatic centre in Torquay, but only after it secures a further $8.5 million in government funding.
Shire councillors yesterday voted in favour of a proposal to build the aquatic centre — including a 50m pool, warm water program pool, gym and group fitness rooms — next to the shire offices in Torquay.
All but two of the shire’s nine councillors voted in favour of the proposal, with both Winchelsea Ward councillors against it.
THE Surf Coast Shire will build a $38.5 million aquatic centre in Torquay, but only after it secures a further $8.5 million in government funding.
Shire councillors yesterday voted in favour of a proposal to build the aquatic centre — including a 50m pool, warm water program pool, gym and group fitness rooms — next to the shire offices in Torquay.
All but two of the shire’s nine councillors voted in favour, with both Winchelsea Ward councillors voting against it.
While a pool has long been mooted in the area, it took a State Government commitment of $10 million and Federal Government commitment of $20 million to bring the project to life. The project will now move ahead on the proviso the shire makes no capital contribution, meaning it must apply for $8.5 million in further government funding.
Torquay Ward’s Cr Brian McKiterick moved the motion to proceed, noting the cost of the project had been a “significant hurdle”.
“This is a golden opportunity for this council, and it’s a significant milestone in the journey for an aquatic centre in Torquay,” Cr McKiterick said.
“We have the opportunity to receive a pool for $38 million with not one cent from anybody in our community.”
A feasibility study commissioned by the shire council in January found the proposed aquatic centre option would have a capital cost of $38.53 million, and average annual operating costs of $433,000 over the first decade.
Winchelsea Ward’s Cr Heather Wellington voted against the proposal, raising concerns with the shire’s funding of operating costs and the benefit of the pool to those in the shire who lived far from Torquay.
“We’re now looking at what I see as a luxury facility, that will impose an ongoing burden to ratepayers of more than $433,000 a year,” Cr Wellington said.
“Even if we contract out the management, we can’t contract out to protect ourselves from the deficit . . . we’ll be the operator of last resort for the pool, and we’ll also have to bear the deficit. Many people in the non-Torquay communities of the shire will view a decision to subsidise a pool in Torquay by nearly half a million dollars annually as quite unacceptable.”
Fellow Winchelsea Ward councillor James McIntyre also voted against the proposal, citing financial concerns and a lack of benefit for his ward’s residents.
“I don’t believe the business case is made out for an aquatic centre, I don’t believe it adequately meets the needs of Winchelsea Ward,” Cr McIntyre said. “If it was a business, the investment simply wouldn’t make any sense.”
Mayor Rose Hodge said the need to minimise operational costs was understood by the shire.
“We’ve long known the many benefits that aquatic and health centres provide, it’s just been a matter of balancing this with the cost of delivering this project along with the many other needs our communities have,” Cr Hodge said.
The council will now seek further government funding, starting with an application to the Victorian Government’s Community Sports Infrastructure Stimulus Program.