$7.5m Government loan to build hot pools near Mt Hutt
A $7.5 million Government loan will help fund a new hot pools spa complex in the Canterbury town of Methven.
Opuke Thermal Pools and Spa will be developed over the next 18 months by Methven Adventures, with a likely opening in winter 2020.
The $15 million project is expected to create 120 jobs and add an estimated $162m to the area’s economy over the next decade.
James McKenzie, the ski area manager at nearby Mt Hutt and a director of Methven Adventures, said the complex could see 150,000 visitors a year within five years.
‘‘We are trying to take the best of what is out there within the wellbeing and hot pool space in New Zealand and bring it all together,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re a long way through our capital raise prior to this, so this [fund] just gives us the impetus to get going.’’
The hot pools complex has been 10 years in the making, with Methven Adventures taking over the project from a previous organisation in 2017.
It will be built next to the Methven Trotting Club, about 500 metres north of the small Ashburton district town and an hour west of Christchurch.
Similar hot pools already exist at Lake Tekapo and Hanmer Springs – where new pools and a hydroslide are planned – while a complex is being planned for New Brighton in Christchurch.
But McKenzie said the new pools would complement rather than compete with other ventures.
‘‘Our modelling shows that there is definitely space in the market for a facility of this nature in Methven.’’
Graeme Abbot, general manager of Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa, said the Methven venture would be competitive, ‘‘but we don’t see it as a major competitor for us, given the distance and the different surroundings of their area and our own’’.
Locals in Methven have also spoken of their optimism from the new business.
Casey Crawford, manager of the Blue Pub in Methven, said the hot pools would bring people to the town throughout the year, particularly families and day trippers.
‘‘It is going to be good for us, something that can operate all year round rather than relying on the seasonal tourism trade of our skifield,’’ he said.
The Methven complex will offer family bathing, an adult-exclusive area and high-quality spa therapies.
Pools will have varying temperatures and incorporate rocks to climb, caves to explore, a lazy river, fountains and a waterfall.
The adult pools will have a pool bar, while the private spa will offer treatments and therapies.
The centre will offer views of the foothills of the Southern Alps and be the first of its kind in New Zealand to be heated by solar power, with water coming from glacier melt, and will produce no emissions.
The $7.5m loan comes from the Government’s provincial growth fund, a $3 billion, three-year investment package to boost regional economic development.
Announcing the investment yesterday, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said: ‘‘Small communities like Methven are reliant on the tourism sector and investing to develop and nurture new enterprises will support sustained economic development in our regions.
‘‘The provincial growth fund is coming to the table to support a project which the community has shown us will make a big difference to their future economic prospects and aligns with the priorities of the wider Canterbury region.’’
But National’s economic and regional development spokesman Paul Goldsmith said there were ‘‘serious questions’’ about the fund.
‘‘The hot pool funding brings total loans from the fund to $47.8m.
‘‘Taxpayers remain in the dark about all of them – no details have been given that would show the level of risk involved or how much of a discount they’re getting on commercial borrowing rates.’’
ACT leader David Seymour added: ‘‘Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to put their money into commercial businesses that banks aren’t willing to lend to. Firms need stand on their own two feet.’’
‘‘It is going to be good for us, something that can operate all year round . . .’’ Casey Crawford