Whangamatā pool, surf life saving club thrown $220k lifeline

Whangamatā's Community Pool and local Surf Life Saving Club have received a financial lifeline from the community board, but their ultimate fate lies in council chambers.

The two parties combined have been backed to receive grants totalling at $220,000 from the board's retained earnings. Up to $135,000 was offered to the pool to cover operational expenses until June 30 2027, with the remaining $85,000 handed to the Surf Life Saving Club for infrastructure investment.

The quest for funding has been a winding yet crucial one according to the pool's management committee chair Rob Boston.

"There was a real danger that without the support of the community board that we might have not made it through to June 30," Boston told Local Democracy Reporting.

"We're feeling very optimistic right now. At the moment we're running very, very close... if anything were to break seriously and it was $10,000 or $15,000, right now we would struggle to fix it."

The pool's requested amount in the board's report came to $70,000, slated to fund aspects such as staff retention, annual sponsorship renewals, summer and winter swim programmes and interrupted access for local groups.

Boston, however, made it clear to members that amount left no margin to replace or repair any equipment failure, and requested the board to re-consider the $135,000.

The final decision regarding funding lies with the Thames-Coromandel District Council following the board's recommendation.

"This is a significant community asset, we all agree with that. We know there are significant changes coming through the LTP because council have actually agreed with a process to fund pools in the future," board member and councillor John Freer said, referring to Thames-Coromandel's new aquatic district funding policy.

"On that basis and there is the funding available, I want to recommend that we support the pool committee with up to the full $135k out of Whangamatā retained earnings."

While it was "fantastic" to see the board get behind the pool, Boston said, the multiple years of trying and failing to gain funding highlighted the "difficult process".

He added the constant scramble for funding is beyond what a volunteer committee can deliver, calling the decision made by the board a "breakthrough".

"As a little town on the coast here we believe we haven't coerced and we haven't forced, but by being persistent and having a really good product the community want, we believe we've got them into that position that they are now seeing the value of what we do."

The remaining $85,000 granted to the Surf Life Saving Club follows the organisation's $4 million clubhouse renovation, which exhausted financial reserves after paying off the remaining debt.

The Club's submission said remaining tasks include, "items such as work benches and racking for the IRD Boat area, washing and laundry area for active and call out squad members, external showers for junior surf and nippers, sun shades for the front deck area and upgrading of bunks, mattresses, showers and toilets in the accommodation block."