Family’s call for Hastings’ Frimley Pool to be saved from closure

Hastings' Rush Hira, with son Te Kahutaua, 9, outside Frimley Pool, wants to see the facility saved and improved. Photo / Paul Taylor

A Hastings father says Frimley Pool was his favourite place to go as a kid and he wants to see it saved and improved for future generations.

Hastings District Council (HDC) is proposing permanently closing Frimley Pool as it currently costs ratepayers $250,000 annually to keep it open.

The council says operating the pool costs $32 per user, on average, and entry is only $6 for adults, $5 for children and $3 for under-5s – meaning the council covers the balance.

People can have their say about the proposal on the council’s website with submissions closing on Monday.

The facility, which opened in 1967 and includes three pools, is open from November to February and the council says there has been declining usage over the years.

There are no clubs that use Frimley Pool as their regular base, in part due to the opening of the Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatic Centre, but some schools use it, particularly during term one.

If the pool is closed, Frimley Park will likely be expanded and cover the area.

Hastings father Rush Hira said the pools had been a big part of his childhood.

“I grew up going there. As a kid, as young as 6 or 7, I remember we would walk there from Camberley.

“On hot summer days, a vivid memory I have is walking with no shoes and getting our feet covered in tar because the heat was just boiling.

“It was our favourite place to go as kids.”

Hastings District Council is proposing closing Frimley Pool. Photo / HDC

Hira has three children who have also grown up going to the pools.

“We took them there probably a handful of times over the last summer period.”

He said his two youngest, aged 2 and 6, enjoyed going but his eldest preferred going elsewhere because there was no diving board or slides.

“It used to have a diving board and that was the main attraction. As a kid, it used to be jam-packed with people just for that.”

Rush, who runs fitness classes in Camberley, would love to see it kept open for the community but said it needed some investment such as diving boards, which he believed would get more people returning.

There are other pools around Hastings including Splash Planet, the new Hawke’s Bay Regional Aquatic Centre and Flaxmere Pool.

“Not everyone can afford Splash Planet, especially if you have a family of two, three, four, five [kids],” said Hira, who added the new aquatic centre was mainly for laps and athletes.

HDC is facing substantial costs related to cyclone recovery and has included the pool closure in its draft Long Term Plan (LTP).

“The rapidly declining use of the pool, future investment requirements, the availability of lane-swimming at the nearby Mitre 10 Park pool, and a recommendation in the Aquatics Strategy to close the pool are the key reasons,” the draft LTP read.

“Closure of the pool would save about $250,000 per annum.”

The council has asked anyone concerned about the closure to make a submission by 5pm Monday.

After considering submissions, the council will adopt its LTP in the coming months. You can make a submission on the council website under Have Your Say On Our Long Term Plan.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.