Belgravia Leisure wins management contract for Gympie ARC

Belgravia’s controversial management of Gympie’s aquatic centre will continue after it blew the council’s competing offer out of the water by an ‘embarrassing’ margin.

Victorian-based Belgravia Leisure has been given the keys to manage Gympie’s multimillion-dollar aquatic centre once more, beating the council’s own tender by a “significant” margin.

Victorian-based Belgravia Leisure has been given back the keys to Gympie’s multimillion-dollar Aquatic Centre after it blew a competing bid from Gympie Regional Council out of the water.

Deep Blue Aquatics has been awarded management of Kandanga’s pool thanks to an amended motion from councillor Bruce Devereaux.

Mr Devereaux said he wanted a local business to given the chance to manage one of the region’s pools.

Staff recommended Belgravia be awarded management of the region’s four community pools - the ARC, Goomeri, Kandanga and Tin Can Bay - at a cost of $2.84 million over five years.

The council had submitted its own tender in competition.

However, its pitch came out significantly higher at $5.6 million.

The cost for the council to run the ARC alone was more than $3 million over five years.

Under the same terms Belgravia said it could do it for $1.65 million, later revised down to $907,863.

Gympie Regional Council’s tender to run the ARC for five years came in at more than $3 million, compared to the $907,863 offered by Belgravia Leisure.

Asset director Gordon Magann said this was because the council had to pay higher wages than Belgravia.

“We operate under different awards and conditions,” Mr Magann said.

“It’s very challenging … to compete with them.”

Councillor Bob Fredman said the difference was “embarrassing” but not surprising given the council had no experience in the area.

“We’re not in the (pool management) game,” he said.

“I didn’t think we were ever going to be competitive.”

Cr Bruce Devereaux successfully asked the council to excise Kandanga’s pool from Belgravia Leisure’s management and hand it to Gympie’s Deep Blue Aquatics.

Deep Blue Aquatics was the only other company to submit a tender.

Excising the Kandanga Pool from Belgravia’s control created new questions too.

As Belgravia originally tendered for either the ARC itself or four pools, the exact cost to the council to have them manage the remaining three pools is unknown.

This prompted councillor Jess Milne move the matter lay on the table so councillors could gather more information.

Her motion was defeated by a four-to-five vote, securing only the support of councillors Devereaux, Dolly Jensen and Dan Stewart.

Belgravia will maintain management of the pools at Goomeri (pictured) and Tin Can Bay as well as the ARC. (Photo: Jessica McGrath)

Ms Milne then voted against Mr Devereaux’s motion, saying the lack of exact figures missed the mark on transparency.

“To leave it in the air and not defined … I don’t believe this is a good process.”

Mr Devereaux’s motion was ultimately passed seven-to-two with Mrs Jensen the only one joining Ms Milne against it.

CEO Shane Gray and the council will now undertake further negotiations with Belgravia.

It is understood the company provided the council with the opportunity to terminate the contract at will after the first year.

Belgravia came under fire from civil liberties expert Terry O’Gorman in 2017 after it was revealed staff were requiring families to let them look through private photos on their phones before leaving.

However it would require 12 months notice meaning Belgravia will manage the pool through at least 2023.

The company’s run since taking over the pool when it was built in 2016 has been turbulent.

In 2017, it came under fire from civil rights leaders after it was revealed staff were checking guests private photos on their phones before they left the centre.

Staff were subsequently ordered to cease the practice.

In 2019, a mother was left “baffled” by the company’s failure to return her calls after her son was left covered in blood following an accident on the water slide.

It is understood the company did finally respond to her following media coverage of the incident.

Originally published as Belgravia Leisure wins management contract for Gympie ARC