In 2021 Council discovered that the roof structure over Swim Zone Matamata didn’t meet the minimum modern earthquake building standards.

It would’ve been a significant cost to bring the ageing facility up to standard, so the roof was removed – turning the indoor pool into an outdoor pool and giving us time to find a solution. At the same time, a community group advocated that an indoor facility was an immediate priority and a working group was established late last year to investigate options.

The working group

Sport Waikato is leading the working group that is made up of Council staff, Councillors Neil Goodger, Sue Whiting and James Sainsbury, and swimming club and squash club representatives. Last week the group provided Council with an update on progress.

The options

Three roofing options were explored by the working group:

• Not replacing the roof
• Replacing the roof with a structure for the medium-term
• Replacing the roof with a permanent structure

There were a number of factors the working group needed to weigh up, including the budget, impact on the community if there was no indoor facility for an extended period, how installing a structure could affect other parts of the complex (such as the dive pool and squash area), age of the facility, and making sure any solution was flexible in case the complex was upgraded in the future.

Based on the information presented, Council agreed to remove the ‘no roof’ and ‘permanent roof’ options (one and three above), leaving the working party to concentrate on exploring in more detail a medium term solution to replace the roof over the indoor pool.

Putting a medium term solution in place means that the Matamata community could continue to access an indoor pool and swimming lessons all year round, while we take on the longer term challenge of planning for a new or upgraded complex that meets the future needs of the Matamata community.

Over the next month the working group will decide on a preferred medium term solution, and present that to Council in April 2022.

Summary of the process

• Nov 2021: Community-Council working party set-up (“the working party”)
• Nov 2021-March 2022: With help from an external facilitator, the working party develop a business case that considers roofing options for an indoor pool facility
• April 2022: Council consider the business case and decide on its preferred option. There is an estimated construction budget of $500,000 for this project
• Date tbc: Interim indoor pool facility constructed and operational
• Date tbc: Collaboration with the community to understand what is wanted from a future swimming facility