Think tank for former Tinwald pool site

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

The contents of a little brown envelope could hold the future of the old Tinwald Pool site.

The Tinwald Reserve Board asked the community for creative and innovative ideas about what the site could be used for in the future.

About 40 ideas have been delivered inside an envelope to the board chairperson, district councillor Leen Braam.

Those ideas will be discussed at the next board meeting, he said.

Braam doesn't expect any decision on what ideas to consider or progress to be a hasty one.

“We might end up discussing this for a while before deciding.”

The Ashburton District Council decided to permanently close the Tinwald Pool in May because it needed an estimated $3m of repair and upgrade work in addition to the $400,000 annual operating costs.

The decision in the long-term plan was not to invest $3m on any water-based project, which also included hydroslides or a new outdoor pool at EA Networks Centre as options.

The site has been handed back to the Tinwald Reserve Board to consider its future and the board sought suggestions from the public to begin coming up with a concept plan.

Then it will need to go to the council to seek funding, likely at the next long-term plan, as the council has no money budgeted in the current long-term plan for any redevelopment of the site, Braam said.