People of Gungahlin, would you like a big pool or a small pool?

An interesting place to hold a public meeting. Hope I dont have to be a member of the Raiders Club to attend….

And yes, I want a 50m pool.

An interesting location to hold a public meeting. Hope I dont have to be a member of the Raiders Club to attend…..

wow in 2008 they promised and it is now 2011 and some are discussing it??
Like getting a quote for your car at $120 then picking it up to find it is $700….and nothing you wanted fixed has been fixed.
50M pool with all accessories thanks…

The issue here is pretty simple. Prior to the 2008 election, Jon Stanhope and Andrew Barr made a clear and unambiguous promise to the people of Gungahlin, as is still available on this media release from 4 August 2008.

“Gungahlin residents to benefit from new 50m pool complex</b?

Labor Member for Molonglo and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Andrew Barr today announced a re-elected Stanhope Government will build a pool and indoor leisure centre for the Gungahlin community.

Mr Barr said the Government is currently investigating the scope of the centre which will include a 50 metre pool, a 25 metre pool at least 1 court space, for example a netball court and associated amenities such as a café and gymnasium."

Interestingly, the next day they pooh poohed the ACT Liberals’ ability to deliver on their counter promise, and reiterated the ALP promise in even more definite language:

“Yesterday Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and Mr Barr announced a re-elected Stanhope Government will build an indoor recreational facility in Gungahlin that will include a 50 metre pool, a 25 metre pool, at least 1 court space, for example a netball court, and associated amenities such as a café and gymnasium.”

“…will build…” Not a lot of room for confusion there…

GCC has been growing increasingly concerned over the last 8 months about the apparent back-pedalling by Andrew Barr on this issue.

We acknowledge that 50m pools cost a bit to operate, but so do all community facilities. To base this decision on the ability of a centre to turn a profit is to totally lose sight of the government’s role in delivering equitable community services across the ACT, as all local governments strive to do. It’s not as if we ever say that libraries should have to turn a profit to be considered – why should it be so for pools? In fact, it could be argued that the previous exercises with outsourcing management of Canberra’s pool centres have not been particularly glowing examples.

Gungahlin has a population of some 43,000, up from 31,000 when I started with GCC just 4.5 years ago. Andrew Barr has acknowledged that it will hit 50,000 within the next 3 years, and the reality is that the accelerated land release will mean we will be well on towards the design population of 100,000 before we know it.

And with population densities far higher than anywhere else in Canberra, our recreational facilities become all the more important to compensate for our lack of back yards and play spaces.

Land use in the Gungahlin town centre is incredibly tight and we have had an uphill battle fitting all the needs for the college (open Monday!), library, oval and aquatic centre within the very limited space available. We have one site only for this centre so it has to built properly first time.

We are building a city for the future, and this is not the place to be playing wedge politics.

So is there anything I need to say in my email to them beyond ‘I would prefer a 50m pool’.

What would sway them the most – an email, letter, or turning up to the consultation thingy?

This is just wasteful spending.
Can’t the government see that what Gungalinites really need and want is a monorail?

Mothy said :

If you’re going to do something, do it right the FIRST time. One wonders how many times Gungahlin has to get screwed before the folks in charge figure that one out.

Ask the people in Tuggeranong what they think of their ’50m’ pool.

Parallels with the Gungahlin Drive Extension. Let’s build one lane/25 metres now, and then at enormous expense, add another lane/25 metres later. Oh but leave just enough time for all of the construction site services (such as the site office, fenced off works areas) to be removed, and then pay to bring all of that back on to site.

Perhaps as an alternative they could build a 4 or 5 lane 50 metre pool, then add the rest later?

yeah Dickson pool rocks

Not sure I like the threat implicit in the timing question;

“The ACT Government needs to fully analyse the feasibility study and the results of the community feedback on the preferred option for the pool size before assessing development and management options.”

i.e. Ask for a proper pool (well done there Johnboy) and we might just drag our feet on getting it started.

The cost differential is stuff all in terms of the overall project, and it’s explicit in the Q&A’s provided that the additional cost will be passed on to the end users anyway – “The fees have not been confirmed yet. They will depend on which option is developed”.

If you’re going to do something, do it right the FIRST time. One wonders how many times Gungahlin has to get screwed before the folks in charge figure that one out.

Its great to at last see an attempt at consultation on the issue, even if it has taken 20 years. It would be difficult to imagine any urban collective in the country the size of Gungahlin without many of the municipal services it is lacking, including a public swimming pool. Admittedly there is a small pool at Gold Creek that the ACT taxpayers had to pay for after the debacle that was Harcourt Hill (less said the better). So people of Gungahlin go for it and get involved in the consultation.

Eh, I’d probably end up still going to Dickson anyway. They have nice trees there.