Another Sydney pool hit with multimillion-dollar blowouts, delays

The patience of water-loving Sydneysiders is being tested yet again as another of the city’s pool projects has been hit with delays and cost blowouts.

The Willoughby Leisure Centre upgrade will now open 20 months behind schedule and cost the council $65 million – up from the original budget of $39 million.

An artist’s impression of upgrades to Willoughby Leisure Centre.Credit: Brewster Hjorth Architects

Willoughby City Council originally announced the project as a refurbishment, with three new pools and a new roof for the pool hall.

When work began in 2022, the council had expected to use existing concrete piers supporting the building for the upgrade. However, council engineers discovered during construction that the existing piers would not be able to hold up the new pool hall.

The engineers then found issues with the construction of the concrete structure, dating back to when it was built in the 1980s, which changed the project from a refurbishment to a complete rebuild.

Construction of the new Willoughby Leisure Centre is under way.Credit: Willoughby City Council

Work was also delayed when widespread asbestos was discovered on the site, which had previously been used as a dump.

A statement from the council said that the increased costs would not result in a change to residential or business rates.

“Nobody likes to hear news of extended timelines and increased budgets for major capital works projects, particularly for a treasured facility like our Willoughby Leisure Centre,” Mayor Tanya Taylor said.

“I want to reassure our community that we are working diligently to manage these challenges with responsible financial oversight and practical solutions that will see a reopening of this important community facility as soon as possible.”

Sydney is getting used to going without its public pools for extended periods. The beleaguered North Sydney Olympic pool has remained closed for the past four years and is unlikely to reopen to swimmers until early 2026.

Brewster Hjorth Architects designed the upgrades for both Willoughby and North Sydney pools.

The North Sydney project went from a $30 million budget to $122 million, and now the council wants to hike resident rates 87 per cent over two years, partly to help cover the cost.

North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker previously told the Herald that staff from other councils, including the City of Sydney and Inner West, had been in touch to discuss the lessons to be learnt from the North Sydney fiasco.

It’s a drama other councils are hoping to avoid: Botany, Leichhardt and Mt Druitt pools are all set for major refurbishments in the coming years.

Parramatta Council is also hoping that headaches over the public pool at Epping will not escalate to North Sydney proportions. The fate of planned upgrades is uncertain after the council discovered during the tender process that it cannot afford an increase in construction costs.

Now the council is considering reopening the centre without the upgrades, which would incur additional costs to get the currently shuttered pool back up and running.

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