Ashhurst pool to be managed by council

The Ashhurst School pool will finally re-open in the New Year after the city council announced it has decided to take it under its wing.

Palmerston North City Council announced the pool would reopen in the New Year after being closed for 12 months, having taken over its ownership and management.

The pool would be operated on behalf of council by CLM, the same organisation managing the Lido and Freyberg Pool facilities.

Ashhurst School would have exclusive use between 10am to 1pm, Monday to Thursday.

Outside of these times, the pool would be available for the community.

Ashhurst School principal Heath Chittenden said they were really happy about the agreement.

‘‘We have been working on it for quite some time.’’

He said 165 school pools had closed in the past five years and swimming pools had always put a stress on school finances.

Now, it wasn’t just a school pool but also a community one. ‘‘We have the best of both worlds.’’

PNCC chief infrastructure officer Tom Williams said they were delighted to have reached an agreement with the Ministry of Education that allowed the Ashhurst community to have its pool operating again.

Council would be attending to urgent works to get the pool to an operational standard.

Once opened, the pool would offer a range of services consistent with the council’s other pools.