Bookings for hot salt pools
People will have to book for spots when Christchurch’s long-awaited hot salt water pools in New Brighton open this Saturday.
The pools, named He Puna Taimoana, will operate at limited capacity due to Covid-19 restrictions. Each day would have four sessions of 50 people each and people would need to book ahead.
Sessions will last 1 hour, 45 minutes. The pools will be cleaned and sanitised between each session.The sauna and steam rooms will be closed at level 2. The showers and change rooms will have restricted numbers.
Entry will be $14 for any Christchurch resident aged over 16, while children under 16 or with a Cando high school student ID card will get in for $10.
Children under the age of 3 will have free entry. Those who live out of Christchurch will have to pay for $18 for an adult and $13 for a child.
New Brighton Business and Landowners Association chair Rebecca Tavete said she was ‘‘absolutely thrilled’’ to hear the pools were opening.
‘‘It’s been a long time coming, it’s reintroducing the excitement again,’’ she said.
She said the Covid-19 restrictions on the number of people per session were sensible and there was no need to risk anything.
‘‘No one wants [New] Brighton to be the centre of attention because something’s gone wrong, so I think play the safe game,’’ she said.
Tavete believed there had been a lack of investment in the seaside suburb, especially in the mall, which one business owner described earlier this year as a ‘‘war-zone’’.
‘‘I think [the pools are] just going to highlight New Brighton now as a destination,’’ Tavete said.
Coastal councillor James Daniels said he had already booked tickets at the hot pools for himself and Burwood councillor Phil Mauger.
He said New Brighton would be ‘‘alive’’ on Saturday as the seaside markets would also reopen for the first time since lockdown. ‘‘That’s a wonderful coincidence.’’
The hot salt water pools were originally due to open on April 4, but were delayed by the Covid-19 lockdown.
‘‘After the events of the last couple of months I am sure lots of people are going to really welcome the chance to have a relaxing soak in the hot pools,’’ the council’s head of recreation, sports and events, Nigel Cox, said.
The complex has five pools in total, with a range of temperatures. An active and fitness pool would be heated to between 26 and 28 degrees, while another pool for relaxation was heated to between 37 and 39 degrees.
There is also a two-metre deep ‘‘plunge’’ pool heated to between 10 and 14 degrees for therapeutic benefits.
To book, visit hepunataimoana.co.nz. Bookings can only be made online, to allow for contactless entry to the facility.