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Council to consider buying Bright pool
July 2, 2009
Alpine CEO, Ian Nicholls said Council had been working behind the scenes on a number of options which would ensure Bright had an aquatic facility - and purchasing the centre was just one of the options.
“Council listened to the community at its May meeting and felt strongly that the unsatisfactory situation with the centre needed to be resolved,” Mr Nicholls said.
In 2004 Council entered into an agreement to provide financial support to the then owner in order to ensure the centre remained open and operated at a required standard. At the end of last year, the operator was declared bankrupt.
“It was clear that if Council did not now step in, the facility could close,” Mr Nicholls said.
“One of the options is to build a new facility on a greenfield site but Council sees this as not sustainable without government funding. Our research so far indicates that government funding will not be available in the short to medium term for new aquatic facilities,” he said.
“If Council wishes to proceed with buying the centre, it will require a loan to pay for it. But this is a much smaller loan than if Council was looking to fund a new facility. The aim is that the income from the centre will service the loan repayments,” he said.
Mr Nicholls said that if Council supported purchasing the property it would represent the first step of a staged plan to firstly upgrade the existing facilities before seeking funding for ongoing improvements. The centre includes the 17m indoor swimming pool, squash courts, a gym room and room to re-establish the fitness centre, on nearly one acre of land (0.3688ha) .
Alpine Shire Council will meet at 7.30pm in the Sportscluster building at the rear of the Visitor Information Centre in Mount Beauty on Tuesday, 7 July. All welcome.
“Council listened to the community at its May meeting and felt strongly that the unsatisfactory situation with the centre needed to be resolved,” Mr Nicholls said.
In 2004 Council entered into an agreement to provide financial support to the then owner in order to ensure the centre remained open and operated at a required standard. At the end of last year, the operator was declared bankrupt.
“It was clear that if Council did not now step in, the facility could close,” Mr Nicholls said.
“One of the options is to build a new facility on a greenfield site but Council sees this as not sustainable without government funding. Our research so far indicates that government funding will not be available in the short to medium term for new aquatic facilities,” he said.
“If Council wishes to proceed with buying the centre, it will require a loan to pay for it. But this is a much smaller loan than if Council was looking to fund a new facility. The aim is that the income from the centre will service the loan repayments,” he said.
Mr Nicholls said that if Council supported purchasing the property it would represent the first step of a staged plan to firstly upgrade the existing facilities before seeking funding for ongoing improvements. The centre includes the 17m indoor swimming pool, squash courts, a gym room and room to re-establish the fitness centre, on nearly one acre of land (0.3688ha) .
Alpine Shire Council will meet at 7.30pm in the Sportscluster building at the rear of the Visitor Information Centre in Mount Beauty on Tuesday, 7 July. All welcome.