Where to splash the cash in Ashburton
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Splashing the cash on swimming pools is considered to be money down the drain.
But the council is still proposing spending millions on an outdoor pool.
A new outdoor pool at the EA Networks Centre, at an estimated cost of $3m, will be the preferred option in the long-term plan over repairing the Tinwald Pool ($3m), installing hydro-slides at EA Networks Centre ($3.5m) or upgrading the paddling pool and water play area at the Ashburton Domain ($3m).
The council's people and facilities group manager, Sarah Mosley, told councillors at a recent workshop that outdoor pools simply don’t make money.
In its best season, 3050 people in 2020-21, the Tinwald Pool recorded a $66,000 loss, costing ratepayers around $18 per swim.
Councillor Leen Braam wanted to know how that compared to the EA Networks aquatic centre.
“The challenge is all aquatic facilities lose money,” Mosley said.
“The costs are high and they provide a service that no other people generally want to provide.
“The comparison in cost is: Do you want to lose more than you need to lose?”
It was difficult to make a comparison between Tinwald Pool and EA Networks as the aquatic centre is an annual operation with multiple indoor pools, Mosley said.
An outdoor pool built at the EA Network Centre would lose less money than the Tinwald Pool if was fixed, “due to the operational efficiencies”.
The $3m figure for the Tinwald Pool is for the scope of work believed to be required, but as with any restoration “you don’t know what you are going to find”, Mosley said.
“When we find something that is out of scope, that could skyrocket the cost and we wouldn’t know that until we find it.
“That’s one of the risks of the Tinwald Pool project versus a greenfield new pool project, which also has a risk of cost escalations but not as many unknowns.”
The $3m would cover repairing the Tinwald Pool but would not include any other upgrades and wouldn’t solve the lifeguard shortage that hampered its operation last summer.
While the outdoor pool options would lose money, hydroslides would be a year-round income stream.
Hydroslides at EA Networks Centre caused plenty of debate back in 2015 but the council of the day opted not to install them.
The proposal is a joint venture operation, partnering with an outside party providing the slides that share the costs and the income.
The Domain Paddling Pool project was included in the Ashburton Domain Development Plan. The project would relocate the paddling pool next to the children’s playground and add a water play area.
It is free to use but doesn’t require lifeguards.
The long-term plan will also have a fifth option – do nothing, saving the community from funding the $3m.
If another option is chosen it will signal the long-term closure of the Tinwald Pool and alternative uses of the site will be investigated.
Councillor Phill Hooper proposed handing the Tinwald Pool back to the community to crowd-fund the necessary repairs and then run it as a community pool with a key subscription system.
It could be an option for the future but it comes with complications, Mosley said.
“It is on council land so the council does not relinquish its overriding health and safety obligations.”
As well as the health and safety factor, pools on council land still need to reach water treatment and water quality standards, Mosley said.
Councillor Lynette Lovett said Tinwald Pool needed community ownership.
“If people raise funds and put money into it they will take ownership. If council just goes and puts a [new] pool in there it will keep running the same and be closed more than it
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Ashburton’s second bridge cost bumped up
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
The cost to build Ashburton’s second bridge has leapt to $130 million as questions remain on how it will be funded.
The council has kept its contribution at $7.5m, despite the estimated price jumping by 15% in two years.
Ashburton Council chief executive Hamish Riach provided councillors with an update on the second bridge after he recently met with Minister of Transport Simeon Brown.
The Government has made the bridge, a key State Highway 1 route in Canterbury, a national transport priority.
Minister Brown made it clear that the council would need to look for funding in the National Land Transport programme process, Riach said.
That will start with conversations between the council and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi around “innovative funding mechanisms”.
After meeting, Riach and Mayor Neil Brown reached out to NZTA regional relationships director James Caygill about “actively getting on with those conversations with their funding people”.
The National Land Transport programme is an investment package for priority transport projects.
For a project to be included in the National Land Transport Programme it has to feature in a council’s long-term plan, Riach said.
The council has chosen to keep the $7.5m figure in its budget planning, even though the cost of the project has increased.
The business case prepared in 2022 estimated the project – a 360m-long bridge across the Ashburton/Hakatere River and new road infrastructure - would cost $113m.
An NZTA document prepared in November estimated the project will cost between $100-$200m.
A recent report from Infometrics, commissioned by Local Government New Zealand, found that over the last three years, costs have gone up significantly and bridges are 38% more expensive to build.
“We note the bridge is programmed to cost $130m and our share, at $7.5m, may or may not survive the whole funding process.
“A lot is going on in this space that is incredibly uncertain.”
The council will adopt its LTP in June – including the $7.5m figure – before knowing what the NLTP entails, Riach said.
“It makes for a messy picture for this project in our formal plans and budgets.”
The minister acknowledged the need for the bridge - easing congestion and improving safety on SH1 - and as a result, the subsidy rate “needed to reflect the improvement to the state highway network”, Riach said.
“We took from that, that a subsidy rate ahead of our normal FAR (funding assistance rate) was entirely justified.”
Rather than a 51% FAR subsidy the business case suggested a 62%, but the question remains how to fill the gap between 62% and 100%, Riach said.
Mayor Brown said the minister also spoke of the Government looking at different ways of funding roading going forward.
This included the possibility of road tolls, Riach said.
“He reiterated that it is certainly his intention to review the way in which tolling is a mechanism for funding projects a little bit later in the year.”
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No tolls without law change
Under legislation, tolls can only be placed on state highways, not on a local road, which is what the second bridge is considered to be.
It also prevents an NZTA toll from raising funds for a council project – so a toll on the existing SH1 bridge couldn’t be used to fund the new local road bridge.
A legislative change could see the possibility of introducing a toll on the existing SH1 Ashburton/Hakatere Bridge or on the second bridge to pay for the project.
There are currently only three toll roads in New Zealand – the Northern Gateway Toll Road north of Auckland, the Tauranga Eastern Link Toll Road, and the Takitimu Drive Toll Road, both in Tauranga.
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