Newcastle council pushing for Hunter Park pool as draft strategy outlines maintenance costs and funding options for existing pools

Mr Bath makes the suggestion for an Inland Pool Reserve Fund in his opening message to a draft Inland Pools Strategy 2043 that is on exhibition for public comment until May 12.

The strategy gives an estimated replacement cost for Lambton pool of $70 million. Wallsend would cost $60 million and Beresfield, Mayfield and Stockton would each cost $50 million to replace.

It says the $300 million or more to replace the five pool shells could only be met "in partnership with the NSW and federal governments and other key service providers".

The operation of Newcastle's inland pools has drawn criticism from some quarters, with Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery critical of the long-term leasing of pools to private operator BlueFit.

Ms Hornery acknowledged that the strategy was about maintenance and improvements rather than pool management but said the two were linked.

A council spokesperson said the pools would remain council-owned.

"The model of operation of our five pools has no bearing on their condition or council's proposed maintenance plan and spend over the next 20 years, and hence the strategy makes no recommendation on who should operate them," the spokesperson said.

The strategy canvases the council's hopes for an aquatic centre at the Hunter Park precinct at Broadmeadow, but says that because the state government's plans for this are "yet to be publicly communicated ... the strategy considers a future both with and without the much-needed facility proceeding".

It says Lambton pool - with three times the patronage of the other four pools - would be maintained as a "district facility" if the state government built an aquatic centre at Hunter Park.

In his opening message, Mr Bath describes the five inland pools as "hugely expensive and an unavoidable loss-making operation" costing more than $5 million a year without "the cost of maintenance or improvements to the pool shells or associated buildings".

The strategy outlines what it calls "the cost to ratepayers of each visit to a City of Newcastle pool", which had risen from $4.49 a visit in 2018 to $7.84 a visit last year.

An assessment by contract engineers of the pools and their tiling (but not the buildings and water treatment systems) gives each of the five pools a "weighted condition score" out of 10: one for new, five for fair and 10 for failed. Wallsend rated 3.25, Mayfield 4.3, Stockton 4.5, Lambton (excluding the dive pool) 5.25 and Beresfield 5.35.

Mr Bath said these reports confirm the pools are in "relatively good condition" and proactive maintenance would ensure none needed replacing before 2043.

A table setting out the "remaining useful life" shows, however, that some concreting and tiling would be due for renewal in 15 years.

The strategy says the five pools "do not necessarily meet contemporary standards for aquatic facilities", but based on the assessment by JWC Engineers "they are not unsafe to users".

Citing forecasts in population growth, Mr Bath says the council "will expect a significant funding contribution from the state government" to help maintain its pools.

He notes, though, that usage had almost halved in recent decades, going from 500,000 to 600,000 visits a year in the 1980s to about 350,000 from the late 1990s onwards, mainly because of the proliferation of backyard pools.

In the council's announcement of the 20-year strategy in early April, lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said "independent research shows public satisfaction with our pools is more than 80 per cent, making them just as popular as the Newcastle Art Gallery and Museum".

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