17 July. Mahurangi Matters. Hopes of a public swimming pool in Warkworth remain on hold, with Auckland Council confirming the town is not identified for a new aquatic centre in any of the long-term investment options currently under consideration.
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Despite more than 15 years of community calls for a public aquatic facility capable of delivering learn-to-swim programmes, Warkworth is absent from Auckland Council’s draft 30-year Aquatics Network Programme Business Case.
Instead, proposed investment over the next three decades is focused on areas including Whau, North-West Auckland, Flat Bush, Drury, Onehunga, Pukekohe, Manurewa, Papatoetoe, Lloyd Elsmore, Ōtara, Albany Stadium and the Hibiscus Coast. 
The business case, presented to Auckland Council’s Policy, Planning and Development Committee this month, found demand for aquatic facilities across Auckland is already exceeding supply and will continue to increase as the population grows. It recommends future investment prioritise community facilities that support lane swimming, learn-to-swim programmes and leisure swimming, rather than expensive competition pools.
While Warkworth is not identified for a council-owned facility, council staff told the committee they remained open to a public-private partnership.
Rodney Councillor Greg Sayers told the committee that Northern Arena Aquatic Centre, based in Silverdale, had expressed interest in developing a facility in Warkworth as early as 2021.
A site adjoining Warkworth Showgrounds was identified and plans were progressing until the project was placed on hold last year.
Sayers said he understood the project stalled because of the cost of connecting to Watercare’s water and wastewater network.
“This is a perfect example of where cooperation between a council group and a private entity could get this across the line without the need for council funding,” he said.
Council staff agreed to investigate the issue further.
“In terms of Warkworth and Wellsford, a partnership is definitely what we’re looking at,” they told the committee.
Meanwhile, Northern Arena’s chief operations officer Dean Kent confirmed the company remained committed to establishing a Warkworth facility, but said the project could not proceed until wastewater infrastructure was available.
“It won’t happen until the necessary infrastructure is in place – trucking the waste out is not a viable option,” Kent said.
He was referring to constraints on wastewater capacity north of the Mahurangi River, which weren’t expected to change until the Warkworth Growth Servicing Pipeline was completed late next year. Until then, developments that did not already have resource or building consent were not able to connect to the water and wastewater network.
“We were pretty much ready to go five or six years ago – our plans were consented and we were very close to making a start. But then Covid arrived and since then, things have changed, including building costs.”
Kent estimated a modern aquatic centre would now cost about $20 million to construct.
“It was not a nice pill to swallow finding out that Watercare connection costs could add another $1 million,” he said.
“We remain committed to the project, but the conditions have to be right.”
He said councils across New Zealand had generally under-invested in aquatic facilities and many Warkworth families currently travelled to Silverdale to access swimming lessons and recreation.
Watercare said it could not comment on individual developments but explained that all new commercial connections were subject to Infrastructure Growth Charges, which contributed towards the cost of expanding Auckland’s water and wastewater networks. The charges for commercial properties, including aquatic centres, were based on the customer’s estimated annual water demand.
Developer services head Shane Lawton said the charges helped fund major infrastructure such as pipelines, pump stations and treatment plants, ensuring the cost of growth was met by new developments rather than existing or future ratepayers.