Where's it @ Rangitikei - Should we open the Marton pool all year round
Rangitīkei has three public pools they are in Taihape, Hunterville and Marton.
Currently, the pools are open on a seasonal rotation and are available for use during the summer months which is generally the end of September to April.
Taihape and Marton pools are managed and maintained by Council contractors. The Hunterville pool is managed by the Hunterville community paid with a grant by Council yearly. The cost of having these three facilities is $1,163,199 per year.
Marton is home to an Olympic-sized heated indoor pool, currently one of the few in New Zealand, which is available to our community during summer only. The Marton pool can facilitate up to 200 people at a time with a staff ratio of one lifeguard to every 50 swimmers.
There is an opportunity, as the Marton Pool is an indoor facility, to look at opening it year-round. This would potentially open up the ability for Marton to promote the pool to clubs, swimming and sports events, swim coaches, health organisations and schools out of the district.
At this stage it is not an option to look at opening the Taihape and Hunterville pools year around however, if there was interest in the future, it could be considered.
Opening the Marton pool year-round allows qualified staff to be employed on permanent contracts, implement more programmes and services and open up the services currently provided to ensure continuity of services. Currently around 108 community members use the Marton pool daily, from babies through to our senior community members, hosting a range of activities from aqua sports to swim classes.
The 2021 LTP included an amount of $222,000 from 2024/25 onwards (ie. Year 1 of the new LTP) for this. These costs are now estimated to have increased by $135,000 to $357,000.
Options to consider are:
Option 1 (Our preferred option)
The Marton pool would remain only open on a seasonal basis. This means that the $222,000 budgeted for in the previous LTP would be removed and no increase allowed for in the 2024/25 year, or future years. This would have no impact on budgeted increases but would instead reduce the size of the Councils current deficit.
Option 2
From 2024/25 the Marton pool would open all year round. This means the $222,000 budgeted for in the previous LTP would be retained from 2024/25; and an additional $135,000 would be added to the budget from 2024/25 – bringing a total of $357,000 annual increase.
What do you think we should do?
