Kingborough Council making waves with new pool plans for sporting precinct

As the Kingborough Sports Centre celebrates 40 years of its past, plans are afoot for its future with a move to add a swimming pool to the sporting precinct.

Kingborough Council Mayor Dean Winter rules out any push for a new pool to be built or run by the council. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

AS the Kingborough Sports Centre celebrates its past, planning is under way for its future with moves to add a swimming pool to the sporting precinct.

With the original complex celebrating its 40th anniversary today, the Kingborough Council has secured a $50,000 grant from the Tasmanian Government for a feasibility study and business case to add the missing piece to the popular and successful sports precinct.

In a community filled with young families, sporting clubs and schools, many residents are forced to head to the Hobart Aquatic Centre or other municipalities for swimming lessons or indoor aquatic recreation.

But Kingborough Mayor Dean Winter rules out any push for a new pool to be built or run by the council.

“It has been on the radar for the Kingborough sports precinct to have a pool in the area,” Cr Winter said.

“The council has had a long-term view it wasn’t affordable [for council] to build and operate a swimming pool.

“We’ve looked at HCC, which loses over $1 million a year maintaining the Hobart Aquatic Centre ... that is just not something we want to lug on to our ratepayers.”

Demand for a pool will only grow stronger with the Kingston High School to be expanded to include years 11 and 12, with a focus on sports and physical activity given the school’s proximity to the precinct.

Cr Winter said the council would facilitate and undertake an assessment of the pool before advancing the project any further.

“The council would do the planning, geotechnical assessment, analysis of the demands, the number of schools, the number of students, all these sorts of things that you would need to do as part of a businesses case,” he said.

“The council needs to make a decision on the process we go through, but the likely process is through an expression of interest process we would give the strata title to someone to come in, build the pool and then run it as a business proposition.”

The concept has the support of Premier and local member Will Hodgman.

“My Government will work with the Kingborough Council to ensure the centre can continue to grow and serve community for many years to come,” he said.

“We’ve recently made a $50,000 contribution towards the Future Directions Plan for the Kingborough sports precinct, which will investigate the viability of an aquatic centre on the Kingborough Sports Centre site.”

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The early plan is around a 25m pool instead of a 50m Olympic-sized pool, due to costs.

It would complement a precinct that now caters for Australian rules, cricket, netball, soccer, tennis and little athletics as well as a myriad of indoor sports such as basketball, squash, gymnastics and table tennis.

Cr Winter said the purpose of the precinct had changed since the Twin Ovals was opened in 2011.

“Previous councils have had aspirations for the Twin Ovals to host AFL pre-season games and Sheffield Shield games, that is no longer the case,” he said.

“We want to focus on making sure every person in Kingborough can get access to a sports ground and can come and enjoy sport.

“It is a preventive health precinct. We want to leave elite sport for Bellerive and any other municipality that wants to chase it.”

Cr Winter said it cost Kingborough Council about $1 million a year to maintain the precinct.

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