Planning for the future of pool and leisure centre facilities and experiences.
Why do we need an Aquatic Strategy?
We need to make sure we are meeting the needs of the community now and in the future.
This strategy will help guide decisions that need to be made by Council about aquatic facilities in the future.
In planning for an important strategy like this one, Council needs to balance a number of things.
Decisions made by Council must consider:
Social impact - how people use pools and leisure facilities, and how these facilities add to the health and wellbeing of the community
Environmental impact - the way these facilities use water, power, gas and other resources
Financial impact - the cost to maintain these assets, now and into the future
Council is collecting information on all of these areas and your input will make up part of the 'Social impact' evidence as defined above.
Objectives of the Aquatic Facility
- To provide a high quality community recreation facility that offers a diverse range of aquatic and health and fitness activities enhancing participation and maximising equity and access.
- To operate cost effectively finding an optimum balance between access to the facility and the recurrent cost to Council and the ratepayers.
- To provide a focal point for social connection and well-being opportunities for local residents.
- To be at the forefront of recreation and competitive swimming in the South West region of Victoria.
- To limit impact on the natural environment through sustainable practices and operations.
Guiding principles for the Strategy
- Enhancing community health, well-being and social connection.
- Universal access to facilities.
- Sustaining high quality, attractive and safe facilities.
- Compliant infrastructure development
- Affordable development and sustainable operations.
- Resource efficiency for energy and water use
- Economic opportunity to attract intrastate (FINA accredited) competitions, maximize the outputs of current and proposed Assets.
Have any decisions been made about the future of AquaZone?
The simple answer is no.
The more complicated answer is that with the condition, usage, and operational cost of the Centre some decisions will need to be made by Council before too long. So we need to make plan for the future to make sure that the social, environmental and financial impacts are balanced with the needs of our growing community.
However, until all of the data and feedback is collected no decisions about the future of any aquatic facilities have been made - so get involved.
How can I be involved?
Council is in the process of engaging a consultant who has extensive industry knowledge and experience in preparing similar strategies.
One of the main requirements of the consultancy will be to undertake an engagement process with key stakeholder and community.
Opportunities for input will be well promoted and added to this page as they are developed.
What is happening next?
- Engage a consultant – in process
- Research, data collection and analysis
- Stakeholder and community engagement
- Draft strategy developed
- Draft strategy out for community feedback
The draft recommendations for the future of aquatic facilities in Warrnambool will be open for public feedback. - Feedback on draft strategy considered
- Aquatic Strategy endorsed by Council
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