Future of Auckland pool remains uncertain after local board meeting

The future of a Newmarket pool and fitness centre remains uncertain after a divisive local board meeting.

On 1 August, Auckland Council agreed to start the process of deciding which of its community pools to continue leasing to private operators and which to run itself.

But the Council made the Waitematā Local Board responsible for determining whether Olympic Pools would stay under its current management, which had operated since 1994.

A full house of around 30 locals were at the local board's monthly public forum in support of the facility's management.

Several pool users gave impassioned pleas to the board to keep the status quo.

One person said she had been a regular user of the pools for thirty years and was worried a change in management would ruin the place.

"The Olympic is a thriving community hub, a second home to many of us, a family."

"I've been to The Olympic thousands of times and have always had a positive experience.

"The Olympic runs like a well-oiled machine, customers and staff are happy, nothing needs to change."

Another pool-goer told the board the pools were run in an exemplary way compared to others he's used that the council managed directly.

"I have observed the contrast. They seem to operate in a much less streamlined way than Newmarket.

"I urge you to resist the temptation to fix something that doesn't need fixing."

Olympic Pools director, Peter Rust, said the pools management first asked the council for a 10-year lease extension to continue operating the facility five years ago.

He said the pool's management were willing to invest $1 million into upgrades if it continued operating the facility.

But with its lease with the council due to expire on 2 November, Rust said they needed certainty about the pool's future.

He said the delayed decision from Council had caused financial and emotional strain on management and staff.

A representative of Hilton Brown Swimming, who used the pools for swimming lessons, said uncertainty about the lease also hurt their business as they were unable to take school bookings.

Newmarket Business Association head Mark Knoff-Thomas said The Olympic was a valuable contributor to the Newmarket community.

He said the council had "dropped the ball several times over several years" and the predicament could have been avoided.

Board member Sarah Trotman proposed the board give a short-term lease extension until 31 March 2025.

But a majority, including the board's chair Genevive Sage, voted to wait until its next meeting on 16 September to make a decision on the lease.

Rust said he could not understand why a short-term extension to their lease was not granted.

"We've been operating for 30 years. We'd continue to operate for any interim time the same way. It has been going extremely well for the community."

"It doesn't prevent another decision from being made. All we're asking for is some breathing room for all the stakeholders of The Olympic."

Trotman told RNZ she strongly opposed the board's decision.

"At today's vote, the more commercially minded C&R team supported my sensible proposal to ensure the Olympic had confidence of a lease until 31 March, 2025. Sadly Gen Sage and her City Vision team voted against the community in rejecting a short extension of the lease. It reflects their lack of commercial and governance experience."

In response, Sage said the board needed to wait for advice from the council to make a decision.

"Today's decision by the Board - which member Sarah Trotman voted against - was to ensure that a report, which is being prepared by Council staff and which will include all of the information needed in order to enable a fully informed decision to be made about the long term operation of the Olympic Pool, can be considered by the Board at next month's Board meeting.

"This had been very clearly communicated to all stakeholders before the meeting and shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone."