The building footprint for Gisborne's new indoor Olympic swimming pool is likely to move, months after early works on the $46 million complex began.
Gisborne's Olympic Pool complex was built in 1974. Photo: The Gisborne Herald / LDR
Subject to geotechnical testing, the indoor pool will be built next door to the existing site and pool complex, on greenfield land at Churchill Park.
Hapū Ngai Tāwhiri has encouraged the move which means the new indoor 50-metre pool facility will not be built on sacred land and on top of ageing sewerage pipes.
Mayor Rehette Stoltz said it made "perfect sense".
Gisborne District Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said the move was "potentially" cost-neutral, on the basis that if the pool was built at the previous site, it was recommended that the pipes were removed.
Howeve,r original plans had budgeted $400,000 to reline the ageing sewer pipes, not to remove them at a cost of $3m.
Thatcher Swann said it was easier and more cost-efficient to build on a greenfield site than on the site of the almost 50-year-old pool, which came with unknowns and added risk and possible costs.
It also meant the old pool could stay open for the next two years, she said.
Ngai Tāwhiri and Gisborne District Council representatives attended a blessing and sod-turning event to mark the start of the $46m redevelopment of the Olympic Pool complex on 30 September last year. Photo: Paul Rickard / The Gisborne Herald / LDR
In a meeting that was going to be behind closed doors, but which councillors resolved to make public, they approved the repositioning of the pool.
As a contingency plan, councillors agreed that if the geotechnical investigation was problematic, the council would decommission and reroute the existing sewerage pipe.
This comes after soil was turned at the site in September, and works began on an outdoor changing and toilet block in October.
Thatcher Swann said the works that had started would not be affected.
She explained to councillors that multiple sites for the redevelopment were originally considered, but the existing site was chosen because it fitted with council plans, and they believed it would be cost-effective, "notwithstanding the sewer pipe running underneath it".
There were concerns at the time that because of the reserve status of the land, the council would not be able to move the pool next door to the greenfield area, she said.
"The legal advice that we have received has outlined that it is within the use of the land.
"It speaks for itself in terms of resilience around not having a sewer pipe running underneath a new build," she said.
An artist's impression of Gisborne's new pool complex. Photo: LDR / Supplied
When talking to Local Democracy Reporting about what prompted the move so late, Thatcher Swann said it came after funding allowed for mana whenua to be brought into the process mid-last year.
"We had to move into some more refinement around the concept and the risk issues that you have with the pipe running under the 50-metre pool.
"So we were able to drill down a bit more into risk, cultural sensitivities so that's when Ngai Tāwhiri suggested the alternative area.
"We really just hadn't gone there because hapū needed to say this is where you go to, that's why we came to that point last year."
Ngai Tāwhiri cultural designer Sir Derek Lardelli, who is working alongside the council on the project, made a submission to councillors yesterday, explaining that the land on which the current swimming pool was built was sacred.
"On that sacred site at the moment, we have an ageing sewage pipe. On top of the ageing sewage pipe, we have an ageing swimming pool.
"What we want to do is move the pool and I think we're being irresponsible if we don't because this is about our mokopuna," he said.
The new facility will include indoor pools, two outdoor pools, a water play area, and a new hydroslide. Photo: LDR / Supplied
Ngai Tāwhiri representatives Thelma Karaitiana and Stan Pardoe accompanied him in submitting.
Asked by Local Democracy Reporting what they thought of the time at which mana whenua were brought in, they declined to comment.
Councillors did not press staff for answers in public and instead praised the move for cultural and practical reasons.
Councillor Kerry Worsnop asked whether Midway Surf Lifesaving Club, which is redeveloping its building across the road, had been kept in the loop.
"I don't see Midway being mentioned at all. I just wanted to bring up - part of their designs specifically was connectivity with the Olympic pool," she said.
Project planner Alice Heather said the club was "a bit disappointed that the connection wasn't as direct", but the club was so advanced in its design that nothing could be changed.
The indoor pool facility will move to greenfield land, marked red, next to the current site of the old pool. Photo: LDR / Supplied
Councillor Tony Robinson questioned the cost of relining versus decommissioning the pipe, and what would happen in the event there were geotechnical issues with the new site.
Mayor Rehette Stoltz said she recalled the community saying, "why don't you move" the pool.
"What we have moved and seconded here today just makes perfect sense.
"Aside from what Derek shared with us about the cultural component and Ngai Tāwhiri's involvement, there's also a lot of practicality in that we can use the old pool for the two years and generate income there."
The redevelopment of the pool has been in train for years, with the council having adopted the business case in May 2017 and staff at that time having been told to make a concept design with input from the community and key stakeholders.
Central government has put $40m towards the project through its "shovel-ready" stimulus package, while the council has committed $5.65m.
The geotechnical information for the new site would be provided at the end of April.
The report that went before councillors explaining the move is likely to be made public next week.
