7173-signature pool petition presented to Napier City Council

David Kamper with his petition, which ended with 7173 signatures. Photo / Duncan Brown

Napier's mayor has accused a man presenting 7173 signatures to the council to save the Onekawa Pools of misleading the public to get them.

But the petition founder, David Kamper, says the sheer number simply shows the people of Napier do not want the Aquatic Centre to be moved from its present site.

Mayor Bill Dalton, at a meeting of the finance committee yesterday, congratulated Kamper on getting the "Marx Brothers and Charles Manson" to sign the petition, saying not everyone knew what they were signing.

"I've also contacted some of the people on the list, and I've had some incredible responses. One guy said 'oh, I was at the school gala and I thought I was buying a raffle ticket'.

"Another guy said, 'I don't remember signing it but I've been bugged when I was having a cup of coffee'."

Councillor Api Tapine made the point that a public-led referendum would need only half the signatures received as the petition.

Kamper said a public-led referendum would be on the table if the public felt they had not been listened to.

"I think there would be huge outcry.

"Getting those 7000 votes was very easy, I didn't spend much time at all, it was self-driven by the community."

At present there is funding in the council's long-term plan to move the Napier Aquatic Centre to a new site on Presbensen Dr.

Much of the discussion at the council meeting centred on the issue that the Onekawa site sits on an old landfill, and the council has received information, which so far has not been made available to the public, that it would not be safe to build on the site.

Dalton said the person who had looked into contamination on the site had a PhD and had worked for the United States Government for 15 years on contaminated sites.

"He absolutely stated he would not open up that ground and he would not build a pool on the Onekawa site."

However, Kamper says the site has been excavated many times, for example when the 50m dive pool was removed, a splash pad excavated, and a beach volleyball court installed and removed.