Pool supporters make voices heard
Supporters bearing signs emblazoned with ‘‘Save Wharenui Pool’’ filled Christchurch’s city council chamber as the swimming club called on the authority to help keep its pool open.
Christchurch City Council has proposed decommissioning the Riccarton pool after the new Metro Sports Facility, now known as Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre, opens in 2022. Wharenui Swim Club leases the facility from the council.
Flanked by sign-wielding supporters, club representatives fought their case before councillors on Saturday in a hearing for the council’s long-term plan.
Committee member David Ormsby told councillors the Parakiore and Wharenui pools could operate in a complementary manner, not a competitive one.
He proposed an ‘‘authentic partnership’’ model with the council and asked it to commit to a recently-discovered 1960 deed which showed the land was expressly to be used for public swimming.
‘‘We want to sit at the table with the council and the school and look at what [that partnership] should be in the future.’’
Ormsby said because of the timeframe for Parakiore to open, there was time to find solutions.
At one point in the meeting, he approached Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel to present a petition signed by 5000 people and various historical documents about the pool, supporters chanting as he did so.
‘‘I wonder if we’ve just saved you $10,000 of staff time in photocopying which you could probably put aside to help us save this pool,’’ he said.
Ormsby finished his presentation by summing up his view in Ma¯ ori. He said an English translation of what he said was, ‘‘Wharenui is me and I am Wharenui’’.
Felicity Rea, a teacher from nearby Wharenui School, also spoke to emphasise the importance of the pool through the story of a pupil. In 2016, Rea taught a 10-yearold pupil, Daniel, who had not been in water deeper than his ankles at the time. It took him five lessons at Wharenui Pool before he went deeper than his shoulders, Rea said.
After continuing to have lessons through years six to eight, Daniel became a ‘‘confident and competent swimmer’’, she said.
The club’s case to stay was also helped by a $5 million accounting error in the pool’s future running costs.
Experts initially calculated it would cost $7.7m to run the pool over the next decade, which was used as justification for closing the pool.
However, the club discovered the numbers did not add up and running costs were closer to $2m.