Former Whittlesea Mayor concerned at $180 million cost of planned Regional Sports and Aquatic Facility

Former City of Whittlesea Mayor Lawrie Cox has expressed concern at the $180 million cost of the planned Mernda Regional Sports and Aquatic Facility.

As reported by the North Central Review, Cox has expressed doubts about the Council’s ability to fund both the construction and ongoing maintenance of the planned mega-facility.

Cox, who was a member of the Council until its dismissal by the Victorian Government in March 2020, said a business case for the facility, prepared by Deloitte Australia and approved by administrators at last month’s Council meeting was ‘not sound’ because it relied on $80 million of external funding.

At $180 million, the planned centre would be the most expensive facility of its type in Australia, exceeding the cost of the Cockburn ARC in Western Australia (costing $107 million, opened 2017), Sydney’s Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre ($106 million, opened 2021) and Victoria's Yawa Aquatic Centre ($50 million, opened 2021) and Gippsland Regional Aquatic Centre ($57 million, opened 2021).

With comparable facilities in metropolitan Melbourne costing in the region of $50 to $60 million, Cox believes that the project, in the fast-growing area of Mernda - which had a population of 23,369 at the 2021 census, would cripple Council’s ability to deliver sports infrastructure in other parts of the municipality.

He noted "constructing a pool is not simply a click of the fingers, it’s a fairly expensive exercise.

“What the previous council was concerned about was that the cost of one facility was going to asset strip all other areas. The cost then was talked about as $113 million, and it’s now come out at $180 million.

“You can’t build other facilities if you’re pouring all the money into that.”

Deloitte Australia's business case recommends the project be delivered in three stages, with stage one - site establishment and detailed design - already underway.

Stage two includes the construction of six indoor sports courts and eight outdoor netball courts, along with detailed design for aquatic and recreation components, and is set to begin in 2024/25.

Stage three involves building a 50-metre pool and several other fitness and leisure pools, along with a gym, a spa and sauna, and consulting suites.

Construction on stage three is slated to begin in 2027/28.

Former Mayor’s doubts
Expressing doubts the Federal and Victorian Governments will deliver funding, Cox questioned the  framing of the facility as a ‘regional centre’, commenting “when I was a councillor we had 5000 people looking for court space for netball and basketball.

“You don’t have that sort of demand for swimming, and I’m saying that as a past Swimming Victoria President and past Swimming Australia board member.

“I don’t oppose courts being developed there, because we do need these sorts of facilities, but we also need them in other parts of our municipality.

“The Epping North-Wollert area is developing far more rapidly in population size than Mernda. People in that area are starting to say ‘where are the community sports facilities up here?’ There are none (planned) for the next 10 years.

“We also need renewal on facilities in areas further south like Lalor, Thomastown and Bundoora.”

Cox said the long-term maintenance of the facility would drain council resources, going on tell the North Central Review “I’d dearly love a pool, don’t get me wrong, but … the ongoing costs are horrendous. I was involved in the construction of (the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre), and the ongoing costs there are huge.”

City of Whittlesea Chair Administrator Lydia Wilson said staging the project would spread the cost over several years, ensuring council could continue to deliver other infrastructure across the city.

Wilson stated “we are a growing municipality, and we need to ensure that we can meet the needs of communities across our established, new and rural areas - both now and in years to come.

“To deliver this project we need to secure the support of the Federal and State Governments and we are strongly advocating to both levels of government to contribute significant funding to deliver this much-needed facility.”

Wilson said the Council had endorsed $48 million for the delivery of stage two, contingent on securing additional external funding of $40 million.