Tauranga City Council has spent $4.7 million on plans for an aquatic centre that have now been abandoned.

Plans for a new $105m aquatic facility at Tauranga’s Memorial Park were paused by the council last year.

Last week the council decided to redesign the proposed facility to scale it back and change its location within the park.

The aquatic centre with indoor and outdoor pools would now be built on the site of the current Memorial Park pool.

The council approved $50,000 to develop concept designs for the new facility. It did not yet have an estimate for what the full project would cost.

A project steering group, including councillors, would guide the next stage of design.

The revised concept would prioritise functionality and getting value for money. It included indoor and outdoor facilities for lane swimming, aquatic sports, learn-to-swim programmes, hydrotherapy and play.

The Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre will remain open until at least 2041. Photo / Alex Cairns

Council civic development portfolio manager Mike Naude said the concept designs for the new aquatic facility would be completed early next year.

Since the project started in 2021, $4.7m had been spent on design and investigations, up until November last year, he said.

Under the old plan, the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre was going to be demolished but now it would remain, which indoor sports groups have welcomed.

Volleyball Tauranga manager Jenny Kirk said they were “absolutely rapt” and it was a necessity to keep the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre courts.

There were 300 teams that played four nights a week across three venues but there were not enough courts available in Tauranga to grow the sport, Kirk said.

In her view, the city needed another multi-use indoor sports facility.

Tauranga City Basketball general manager Mark Rogers said they were “very appreciative” the youth centre would stay but the city was still short six indoor courts.

Tauranga City Basketball general manager Mark Rogers. Photo / John Borren

The shortfall was based on Sport New Zealand guidelines for sport facilities required based on population, he said.

In May the council opened the Haumaru Sport and Recreation Centre in the old Cameron Rd Warehouse building. The centre was intended to replace the youth centre once it closed.

Rogers said Haumaru had enabled them to run competitions for adult members but there was not enough court space to grow the sport further.

“The demand for basketball is still going through the roof.

“There’s definitely opportunities for us to grow the sport within the community, but we just don’t have the space to do it.”

Swimming Bay of Plenty deputy chairwoman Lorien Martin said the change in plans for the aquatic facility was a “responsible and sensible” decision.

The new aquatic facility will be built on the current Memorial Park pool site. Photo / Mark McKeown

The organisation understood the council was focused on delivering a leisure facility that was not designed to meet competition needs.

She fully supported more people being able to access aquatic facilities, and any new facility would help.

It would also relieve pressure on Mount Maunganui’s multi-pool indoor facility BayWave, Martin said.

Swimming Bay of Plenty was keen to be involved in the design, and also still wanted to see Tauranga get an Olympic-length 50m indoor pool to support competitions, training and events.

Plans were under way to extend the 33m outdoor pool at Mount Maunganui College to make it a 50m pool. The council gave in-principle support and a $4.9m grant for the project in May.

Tauranga Mini Golf owner Mike Head. Photo / David Hall

Tauranga Mini Golf owner Mike Head is relieved because the new plans meant his 45-year-old course at Memorial Park would remain.

The previous plan’s footprint would have forced him to rebuild part of the course nearby at his own expense, or close.

Before last week’s decision, there had been five years of uncertainty about whether his business would be affected, he said.

“It’s a piece of history so people are really, really happy that it’s staying here as it is.”

Bay Venues chief executive Chad Hooker said keeping Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre open would help meet the growing demand for court space.

“Despite the addition of new courts, we still have significant unmet demand for indoor court space across the city, particularly at peak times, and we are working with council to plan for the future of the indoor court network.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.