Budget 2024-25: Last-minute motion will see City Hall explore ways it can make Norlane aquatic hub more affordable

Following its opening in February, a number of residents in Geelong’s northern suburbs have said the cost of accessing the Norlane Aquatic Recreation Centre is prohibitive.

Geelong Mayor Trent Sullivan at the opening of the Norlane Aquatic Recreation Centre. Picture: Supplied.

City Hall will investigate ways it can make the recently opened Norlane Aquatic Recreation Centre more affordable for residents of Geelong’s northern suburbs.

Local councillor Sarah Hathway introduced the last-minute amendment at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

She said the move came after she was contacted by several constituents of the 3214 and 3215 postcodes who said the current charges limited their ability to access the $65.6m hub.

Sarah Hathway. Picture: Peter Ristevski.

“This is something to keep an eye on and seek to review and maximise as much participation in the immediate area as possible,” she said.

“I’m sure residents of the north would be grateful for that support.”

An adult ticket for a swim, spa and sauna session currently costs $15, dropping to $11.50 for concession card holders.

The cost of a 25 visit swimming pass is $182.80, while those eligible for concession rates pay $133.70.

A one-off gym visit will set an adult back $18.70 and $14 for concession card holders.

Fellow Windermere ward councillor Anthony Aitken said the next 12 months would provide the time required to investigate whether the current pricing structure was limiting the ability of some residents to access the facilities.

“I think what we find at Norlane will actually also resonate with other parts of Geelong as well, in particular Newcomb and the Splashdown facility,” he said.

“As a consequence, it is really important that we actually encourage the organisation to collect the data over the next 9-12 months, and look at are we making these facilities accessible to those most in need and who will get the most benefit from them.

“If it is about price, we really do need to develop a targeted assistance program and I’m pretty confident that if it works in the northern suburbs of Geelong, it will certainly work in Newcomb too.”

The motion, which was seconded by Elise Wilkinson, passed unanimously.

Councillors then voted unanimously in favour of implementing City Hall’s 2024-25 budget and rates documents.

All councillors except for Belinda Moloney spoke at length on the budget, highlighting projects funded in their wards.

Bruce Harwood said the state government’s annual rate cap of 2.75 per cent was “light”, resulting in council having to be increasingly “more creative in other areas of deriving income”.

He also said that in some respects local councils, including Geelong, were doing the “heavy lifting for the state government”.

Also on Tuesday night, Surf Coast Shire said it would seek community feedback on how it should cover the cost of its planned Surf Coast Aquatic and Health Centre.

Options include borrowing up to $6m or implementing design changes that would reduce costs, but not the functionality of the facility.

“Cost escalations have hampered the construction sector since the pandemic and our benchmarking of other recent aquatic centre projects across Australia show they have been experiencing significant cost blowouts,” Mayor Liz Pattison said.

“We know a Surf Coast Aquatic and Health Centre would deliver major health and wellbeing benefits for our community, as well as providing much-needed water safety skills, but we need additional funding to make the project happen.”

The shire will not reveal the projected cost, due to commercial in-confidence, but so far more than $46.7m had been allocated to the project, including over $36.6m in state and federal government grants that will be lost if the project does not proceed.

Earlier: Geelong council reveal budget changes

The local sports ground at the heart of a major council funding furore earlier this year will get cash for upgrades as part of a raft of proposed changes to City Hall’s draft budget.

Ahead of its June council meeting on Tuesday, the city revealed budget changes including a last-minute injection of more than $2.7m of additional funding to its operating and capital works programs.

The centrepiece is $1.5m of council money to be set aside in 2024-25 for female-friendly changerooms at Hamlyn Park, home of the Bell Park Dragons, on top of the $200,000 already committed by City Hall.

Following a special meeting in April, the city applied for grant funding as part of the federal government’s Play Our Way program.

The scheme aims to promote access and build facilities for women and girls in sport, and Geelong city council voted unanimously in favour of putting Bell Park forward.

It came after a the city’s controversial February meeting, where Hamlyn Park had been set to receive funding for its netball facilities, before councillor Peter Murrihy sensationally introduced an alternative motion.

Mr Murrihy’s motion instead prioritised state government funding for female-friendly facilities at Newtown and Chilwell’s Elderslie Reserve, rather than Hamlyn Park.

The motion, which came shortly after state government monitors wrapped up their time in Geelong, sparked a furore, prompting a complaint to the state government’s council watchdog and leading to Mr Murrihy defending it at the city’s March meeting.

It’s understood that the $1.5m earmarked by council will be a back-up in case Hamlyn Park fails to be awarded the federal funding.

The recipients of Play Our Way grant funding have not yet been announced.

The “sombre and testing” budget was released for public consideration in April, and forecast a slim $2.1m operating surplus.

A smaller $1.5m operating surplus is now predicted, with City Hall proposing to take on $15m in new borrowings in 2024-25.

Other changes to the draft budget include $423,000 of winter funding for the North Bellarine Aquatic Centre and $650,000 towards upgrading netball facilities at Richmond Oval – home of the East Geelong Football & Netball Club and Geelong City Cricket Club.

Originally published as Budget 2024-25: Last-minute motion will see City Hall explore ways it can make Norlane aquatic hub more affordable