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INFORMATION - PETERBOROUGH SWIMMING POOL
In response to Community concerns and feedback raised in relation to some recent decisions made about the operations of the Peterborough Swimming Pool, please find detailed below some of the considerations in relation to the decision making for the 2024/2025 Pool Season.
When considering the operations of the pool each year, Council must consider not only the benefits of the Swimming Pool as a community facility, and benefits to community wellbeing the swimming pool provides, but also the costs of providing this facility.
Besides the wellbeing aspect the pool brings, Council also needs to consider the ongoing financial sustainability, as it has been recognised that the Council’s financial position was and is potentially unsustainable.
In 2023/2024 the cost to operate the pool was $117,000 with income of only $17,000 to offset these costs. Some of the costs include: Salaries and wages, chemicals, insurance, cost of utilities, ie electricity and water, maintenance and repairs, parts and materials, building maintenance, health and audit inspections.
As part of Council’s commitment towards moving to a more financially sustainable model, we needed to consider reviewing our operations to identify financial sustainability measures and cost savings and efficiencies, this includes reviewing our fees and charges, which Council do annually, as well as reviewing our operations for cost savings and efficiencies.
Why Did Council increase the temperature to 28 degrees for the pool to be open?
Council is currently considering all aspects of our business as we work towards improving our financial sustainability and the pool operations is one area that we had to review, due to the costs in providing this facility to the community.
As detailed above the pool costs Council each year approximately $117,000 to operate, with income of approximately $17,000 to offset the costs. The remaining cost of running the pool is borne by your rates, this means that each year the pool costs net $100,000 to operate which is covered by your rates.
Therefore Council needed to consider the operational costs and any efficiencies to try to move towards a more sustainable financial model otherwise the ever increasing costs of operating a pool could lead to either higher rate increases or cuts to other services.
Council therefore reviewed statistics in relation to attendance levels and when the pool was most likely to have small attendance numbers and a decision was made that the cost of providing the pool at lower temperatures can effect lower attendances, therefore this aspect needed to be rationalised, so the temperature was raised to 28 degrees.
This was seen to be a better solution in lieu of other options of opening the pool later (eg January), reducing the number of days the pool was available to be opened, or increasing fees higher than the moderate increases over the past few years.
This way we could still maintain the times the pool was open and continue to provide the pool to the public, which is a better outcome than we have seen in other locations, such as Mannum, where they have closed the pool to the public this year.
Concern in relation to increases in fees and charges
Council is acutely aware of the financial pressures facing the community, and the need to balance affordability for the community whilst implementing measures to deliver long-term sustainability, and the provision of services.
The cost to Council in providing and operating a community Swimming Pool continue to increase each year, and as detailed above it costs Council net $100,000 to operate a pool, with the majority of that coming from your rates. So to offset the impact to rate increases and ensuring services do not lead to larger rate increases, the costs of providing the pool are offset by user fees for those using the pool.
As the costs of providing the pool increases each year, Council must also review our fees and charges to ensure they reflect some of these costs to the community each year.
Over the past three seasons, the fees have increased by $3 over that three year period for a casual adult entrance fee (from $5 to $8) and $15 for an adult season pass (from $105 to $120) and $20 over three years for a family of five season pass (from $220 to $240), and $5 for a casual pass for a family of five (from $17 to $22).
Of note, the fee for a casual adult has only increased by $4 over the past 9 years and there were 5 years the fee didn’t increase at all and only increased by $1 over a six year period, all while the costs of operating the Pool continued to increase.
These increases are required to help offset the annual cost increase to Council in providing and operating a pool. The increase to these fees also help to keep rate increases lower overall through the user pay fees.
Without this increase in user fees for the pool, this would ultimately lead to higher rate increases to offset the increases of costs to Council to operate the pool.
The benefits of the pool to Community Wellbeing
Council recognise the importance of the pool facilities to recreation and community wellbeing and it is a valuable facility, providing recreation opportunities, wellbeing and community connection whilst also providing water safety education and other programs that help with the community wellbeing.
However Council also has a duty to provide the best value for money services for the community and endeavour to justify the spending and try to keep rate increases down.
Perceived shift in focus of Council services such as the pool
As detailed above, Council recognises the importance of the pool for community wellbeing and maintain the scheduled operating days and hours, and is committed to continuing to provide the pool as a key recreation facility, however there is a need to do this in a financially sustainable way.
As detailed above, the fees for the pool have not increased by large amounts over the years and have in some years maintained zero increase, however when considering operating services and facilities in a sustainable and financially responsible way, we must provide the best value for money services to enable the justification of ongoing spending on facilities such as the pool.
As can be seen with the closure of the Mannum pool in the Mid Murray Council area, we are not immune to cost pressures and with the continued pressure on Council to be financially sustainable and fiscally responsible for rate-payers’ money as it is ultimately your rates dollars that are paying for the pool to continue to be open.
Was the Pool Opening Date delayed?
There has been comments made about the pool opening date being delayed this year, however the pool opening date for 2024 was not delayed and the pool was opened at a similar date this year as it was in recent years.
Update on Pool Shade
Council is presently progressing an insurance claim for the torn pool shade over the main pool, and once we receive an outcome from the claim Council will be able to address the torn shades.