Registrations of interest to be called for Dargaville pool

Kauri Coast Community Pool Trust is to seek registrations of interest in building Dargaville’s new pool.

This will give a firmer idea of the capital cost and provide opportunities to explore possible modifications to the construction. It should also improve the chances of obtaining the capital needed.

The Trust plans a 50 metre pool, divided by a moveable bulkhead, plus a hydrotherapy/learners pool at Selwyn Park. It currently has $3.5 million committed; including $2 million from Kaipara District Council in the form of a $1 million loan over Dargaville, $500,000 from forestry and $500,000 from the sale of property. Also, $750,000 has been committed by the Lotteries Board and Northland Regional Council has promised $700,000. However the Pool Trust was left with a shortfall when the ASB Trust declined an application for $1.5 million.

Kauri Coast Community Pool Trust Chairman Vern Stevens is confident the pool will go ahead and can be operational for the 2009/2010 season.

“We have $1.5 million in outside funding and we are not going to walk away from that,” he says. “I am confident we can bridge the gap.”

The Trust is working on a number of options to do this without costing the community more in rates than agreed in the Council’s Long Term Community Plan.

These include making applications to five agencies for a total of $1.15 million and the Trust is also talking to the Minister of Health about contributing to the $200,000 cost of the hydrotherapy pool.

“We are sending people to Whangarei by the van load so surely it makes sense to have one here to cater for the ageing population and sports injuries“ Mr Stevens says.

Other options to boost funding include selling additional Council property.

Also, Mr Stevens says a survey of potential pool users has indicted that they are prepared to pay more per visit than originally budgeted – improving the operational viability and ability to service capital costs.

Today (July 23) Kaipara District Council unanimously agreed to the Trust seeking registrations of interest. It must then report back to Council and produce a robust business plan for both capital and operational aspects of the facility before proceeding further.