Page 953 - Week 03 - Thursday, 19 March 2015
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hearts of many Canberrans. For the past 60 years it has served us well as a valued facility for the general public and sporting groups alike. The Canberra Olympic pool is a valued community facility and I understand that it means a lot to many people.
Many of us have fond memories of growing up and spending summers at the Civic pool—the initiation of jumping off the top tower, school swimming carnivals, and in 1992 the construction of the air support dome that allowed use of the 50-metre pool all year round, the day the bubble was put on. The pool has a personal, iconic history for many Canberrans. I could not tell you how many thousands of laps I have done there as a member, and there are many sporting groups who train there regularly.
While Civic pool maintains a loyal membership base, is enjoyed by casual users and has generally been well maintained, the substantive infrastructure of the facility is ageing. The pool is old, old beyond its design life of 50 years. Over the course of the current management contract and following a series of detailed investigations, it has been established that water consumption for this facility has become excessive due to leaks that are a manifestation of the ageing infrastructure.
Since August 2013 Sport and Recreation Services have been aware of excessive water leakage beyond what was reasonably expected, and evidence provided by the pool operator suggests that water loss significantly worsened from 2012. SRS have made various attempts to identify and repair the source of the leaks. This included closing the pool for public use for two days in February 2014 to complete investigation work into the source of the leak. However, the report was inconclusive in terms of the exact origin of the leak and recommended further testing and inspection of the pool reticulation system.
SRS engaged ABA Construction Managers to complete a revised set of remediation works that did not involve any closure of the pool, which commenced on 20 August 2014 and was completed in November 2014. Unfortunately, given the age and condition of the facility, the consultants could not provide any guarantee that the leaks could be totally repaired. Despite subsequent investigations and remediation work and some reduction in water leakage, monitoring has revealed that water leaks persist and significantly increase during the summer months when the outdoor pools are also in use. I am advised that the remediation works undertaken to date have been at a cost of nearly $260,000.
It is certainly not uncommon for facilities of this age to have water leaks and, in fact, it would be considered unusual for the pool, tank or plant systems to not have leaks, given their age. However, it is clear to me that the current leaks are far beyond what any in the community would consider reasonable. Despite the number of detailed investigations being undertaken in recent years to identify the source of the leaks and attempts made to repair the infrastructure as I have outlined, we have not been successful to date.
Over the past six months since I became minister I have been receiving increasingly concerning briefs from Sport and Recreation Services on the state of the pool. The most recent update to me last month indicates that the problem has persisted despite repairs undertaken to date, although it does seem to be seasonal. This alone should
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