Marchant takes the plunge with $20m commitment to North Bellarine pool

LABOR candidate for Bellarine Alison Marchant has plunged into the North Bellarine Aquatic Centre (NBAC) debate with a big election pledge, saying she will put $20 million towards the project if she wins the seat and Labor holds government.

The local advocacy group for the pool is thrilled with the commitment and says the extra cash makes it much more possible to deliver a facility that is not only everything the community wants but is also built sooner.

Stage one of the project, costed at $15.5 million, will include an Olympic-sized 50-metre outdoor pool and associated facilities, and the City of Greater Geelong is presently building it in Drysdale.

City-endorsed stage two plans include a leisure pool, learn-to-swim pool and warm water pool indoors at a cost of about $45 million, and Corangamite Labor federal member Libby Coker pledged $20 million towards the overall project in October 2021.

Ms Marchant met with North Bellarine Aquatic Centre Advocacy Group (NBACAC) members and outgoing Bellarine Labor MP Lisa Neville at the Drysdale site on Tuesday to reveal the good news.

Ms Marchant did not say what her $20 million would be specifically used for, but said she had been in discussions with Ms Coker and the city about the potential designs.

“I know this project’s had many iterations, and some speedbumps along the way, but the community, though has always been resolved that they needed an indoor facility and aquatic facility here to cater for all ages, from those who need to learnt to swim, up to the hydrotherapy and lap swimmers.

“It is a facility that is well needed in this community and will be well loved, but we needed to get it right and make sure you got what you needed.”

NBACAC is pushing for an indoor lap pool and a warm water hydrotherapy pool in stage two, and group chair Rob Kolomeitz thanked Ms Neville and Ms Marchant for their work.

“What we want is basically what the state and federal governments want… that’s an interesting question, because we have to deal with council now,” he said.

“We want something that’s going to cater for everyone – proper hydrotherapy, aquatherapy, learn to swim, lap swimming – we need to get the best bang for our buck.

“Knowing now we have clarity about the money that’s going to be used for this facility, hopefully we can do this very quickly and with no confusion ahead.

“$20 million goes a long, long way. We believe that with this money, this announcement, we can actually deliver what we really need, so it’s been fantastic to hear that.”

Mr Kolomeitz said some sort of roof structure over the outdoor pool would be great, but NBACAC did not want “any added extras that are going to impact on the things we need in this indoor aquatic centre”.

Ms Neville said the return of a pool to Drysdale would be welcomed by locals after the previous facility near the Drysdale Golf Club closed in the early 2000s.

“I think the three biggest issues [raised by the community with her] have been ‘Who’s going to build the bypass?’, ‘Who’s going to protect the Bellarine properly in terms of development overlay?’ and ‘We need a pool back’, and with this, we get those three big things done, and that’s fantastic.”