The iconic Wharenui pool in Matipo St is under threat of being closed, one of several Riccarton facilities threatened under the City Council's new draft Long Term Plan. The council says Wharenui pool will close when the Metro Sports facility, on the corner of St Asaph and Antigua Streets, opens. In addition to losing the pool, residents face the loss of the bus lounges in Riccarton Rd, and the mobile library service.
The threatened closures are another in a string of reductions in public recreational or cultural facilities in Riccarton, following the loss of the library and the closure of the Sockburn swimming pool. The nearby Squashways courts have also closed.
The plan puts the future of the Wharenui Swim Club and management of the associated recreation centre up in the air. Although the recreation centre is not slated for closure, the council's Head of Recreation, Sports and Events, Nigel Cox, told Riccarton Community News that "consideration may need to be given to a different operational model for the facility."
The Wharenui Swim Club is one of the oldest in the country, and has a long and rich history, producing many Commonwealth champions and Olympic representatives. It was formed in 1911 with the opening of an open-air pool on the Matipo St site. The pool was rebuilt in 1960, and covered in 1968. In 1991, the Recreation Centre was added by the Riccarton Borough Council.
Besides swimming, the recreation centre is a family friendly centre offering many sports and fitness activities.
Jen Hooper, the Wharenui Sports Centre General Manager, says, “This is not what we want to happen. We believe Wharenui is a cornerstone of the community, and we offer a variety of services far beyond just squad swimming. Through these programmes, we engage many different ethnicities and age ranges.”
Kate Cleverly, Halswell Community Project Coordinator and a swimming club committee member, says the pool is a community asset, currently being used by a wide variety of people. “It is also the only pool in the area, and travelling to Metro or the new Hornby pool is not feasible for many people for a whole raft of reasons. Those pools also won’t have the privacy that many groups require.
“In order to keep the pool in the community we really need the local community to rally and make a submission against the closure!”
What you can do
Submissions on the council plan open on 14th April. To that end, workshops are being offered at Wharenui to take people through the process of making a submission. They will be on Tuesday 16th March 10.15 am, Thursday 18th March 6 pm, and Friday 19th March 3 pm.
Residents groups around Riccarton, Halswell and Hornby Concerns are rallying over the long term plan implications. A public meeting has been confirmed at the Rārākau: Riccarton Centre, 199 Clarence Street, on Sunday 11 April at 2.00pm. Consultation on the plan closes on 18 April.
One of the organisers says the aim is “to see if we can as residents groups find common ground on some of the issues and present a united front on those, and also what we see as priorities for the next ten years.”