The 50-metre pool is all but dead in the water. Photo: Geocon.
The ACT Government has effectively hammered the last nail in the coffin for Phillip’s 50-metre outdoor pool.
In December last year, independent Member for Murrumbidgee Fiona Carrick moved a motion in the ACT Legislative Assembly asking for the government to show its workings on why it was considering a 25-metre replacement.
The site’s owner, Geocon, currently has a DA to build two 13-storey residential towers on the site of the Phillip Swimming and Ice-Skating Centre. The new aquatic centre, which will be located on the ground floor, will feature a 25-metre, eight-lane lap pool.
Ms Carrick’s motion demanded the government provide the evidence for “how a 25-metre pool best meets the demand of the future population … forecast to live in the 5 km catchment” surrounding the town centre, as well as the funding model for its operation.
It also wanted the government to “provide a list of other sites … that are suitable for an aquatic centre, including a 50-metre pool”.
Advocates like Ms Carrick have argued the Woden town centre’s catchment is vast, stretching into parts of Tuggeranong, Weston Creek and the Molonglo Valley.
But in its response, handed down during the first sitting week of the year for the Legislative Assembly, the government began by noting plenty of other “aquatic and leisure facilities” within 5 km can help shoulder this demand.
These include Kingswim in Deakin, Manuka Pool, the Stromlo Leisure Centre and the Active Leisure Centre in Erindale, as well as the proposed Commonwealth Park Aquatic Centre.
“It is considered investigating the Woden District in isolation is more accurate of the likely catchment,” the paper reads.
Fiona Carrick (second from left) is also a member of the local lobby group Save Phillip Pool. Photo: Save Phillip Pool, Facebook.
According to population projections from Treasury, the Woden District is expected to reach about 56,600 people in 2060, with the largest increase in those aged 45 years and under.
“The requirement to provide an indoor facility … will provide for a modern aquatic facility that will service a range of users, in all weather conditions and all year round.
“The greater focus on toddler/leisure and learn-to-swim facilities, in particular, will help service the growing demographic of younger families and children.”
The government also referred to a report by Royal Life Saving Australia in 2022 that found the ACT is the only jurisdiction in Australia where “all residents are located within a 20-minute drive of a publicly accessible aquatic facility”.
During an earlier consultation period, the government acknowledged that the “community appreciated the Phillip Pool” and that “specific concerns were raised regarding the potential closure and lack of replacement public swimming facilities”.
“The Woden District Strategy was subsequently amended to note that a publicly accessible swimming pool will be retained to service the community.”
However, “numerous planning studies” ultimately showed that 50-metre pools are “generally only feasible and/or financially viable where there is a dedicated population catchment of 70,000 to 100,000 people”.
“Some of these inter-jurisdictional studies also highlight the significant additional capital cost associated with the construction of a 50-metre pool over a 25-metre pool, and that the maintenance and operational costs are exponentially higher.”
The proposed entrance to Geocon’s new ‘Phillip Aquatic Centre’. Photo: Geocon.
The government also said that in accordance with the usual Crown lease arrangement, the building manager will be responsible for “maintenance and any operating losses”.
“For this site, the Crown lease requires the lessee to keep the swimming pool open to the public, as agreed with by the Territory,” it wrote.
“The Territory will consider reasonable hours of operation that will provide the community with access to the facility and also allow for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance on the facility.”
“Management of programs and services” will also rest with the building manager.
If all else failed, Ms Carrick had suggested that a patch of green space in Eddison Park could house a new 50-metre pool, but the government all but ruled this out in its response.
“At this time, no detailed planning or design has been undertaken by the ACT Government to identify other sites in central Woden that may be suitable for an aquatic centre, including a 50-metre pool,” it read.
“The ACT Government will work with landholders in the district on the provision of sports and recreational facilities as the district continues to grow.”
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