Khandallah pool has been free to the community since the summer of 1986
Wellington City Council The Khandallah pool has been free to the community since the summer of 1986 and some residents say that should continue. It will now cost children $1 and adults $2 to swim at Khandallah Pool. Wellington City Council pool manager Jonothan Delich says the costs of keeping the pools running, including for chemicals and materials, have escalated over the years. As a result of the Long-term Council Community Plan consultation this year, the council increased the prices on some of its services, such as extra swimming costs and increased prices for hiring out DVD box sets at libraries. ?Introducing the fee for a swim at Khandallah Pool is just one of these measures. ?These small increases across the board have allowed us to keep all the services we provide in these tight economic times,? says Mr Delich. Khandallah Forum chairperson Dermot Byrne says there doesn?t appear to be a good enough reason for the introduction of a charge. ?The pool has been used by children during the day for years, and they have not needed to pay. ?It has been free for a long time, and that should continue,? says Mr Byrne. Although the pool is not used for ?Learn to Swim? lessons, it is popular with local school groups and Kindergartens that book the pool for lessons, says Khandallah Pool team leader Anne Hammond. ?It?s up to the staff if they can cover that amount of people using the pool. ?We have been encouraging the ?Toddler mornings? in late February, and last year they were very popular,? says Mrs Hammond. McKenzie Outdoor Swimming Pool in Petone opened last weekend and Hutt City Council leisure active manager Marcus Sherwood says it won?t have to close for the scheduled $1.3 million dollar upgrades. ?The pool will be open as per normal; we are not planning to close it down for summer at all. ?We are hoping to keep McKenzie pool open next summer as well, and if all goes to plan we will not need to close the pool for any summer periods,? says Mr Sherwood. With the $1.3 million secured in the budget for 2010/11 the McKenzie pool upgrade will precede next winter.
