Site testing begins at Armstrong Creek Games venue

THE ground is being prepared for the two sporting venues to be built in Armstrong Creek and Waurn Ponds ahead of the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.

There is less than three years until Victoria 2026 begins, but South Barwon MP Darren Cheeseman says his government will complete the infrastructure in time.

Geelong-based contractors Douglas Partners are now drilling and excavating at various locations across the sites of the new outdoor aquatics centre, in the Armstrong Creek Town Centre; and the gymnastics and weightlifting venue, just to the south of the Waurn Ponds railway station.

The geotechnical works started last month and will continue until late June.

Boreholes will allow engineers to collect physical samples of soil and rock beneath the surface to confirm the ground conditions and help inform the detailed design of the new venues.

Speaking at the aquatics centre site on Saturday, Douglas Partners associate geotechnical engineer Gareth Griffiths said the boreholes were being drilled along where some of the access roads would go as well as under the pools themselves.

“Some of the pool structure holes will be going a bit deeper, because obviously we need to get below the base of the diving pool.”

He said data from the samples would be sent to a laboratory in Melbourne for processing, which would take about four weeks, with the final report to be sent to Development Victoria.

“I don’t think they’ll have any dramas [in building] – the soil is consistent, which is the main thing. Sites that are inconsistent present problems.”

Mr Cheeseman also visited the aquatics centre site on Saturday, and said his government was “getting on with it”.

“Normally the host city has about a six-year time period to deliver the infrastructure needed for the Games. We’re doing it in four years and we’re over 12 months into that now.

“There’s a huge amount of work to get done, but I’m very, very confident that we can deliver the infrastructure we need to deliver a world-class event that’s going to deliver hugely for our region in terms of the legacy and the number of jobs.”

He said the Victorian government had engaged architectural firms to design the venues and would go to market by early next year.

“I’d be looking forward to seeing a lot of construction activity under way at this site in the next 12 to 18 months.”

He said the plan to remove two of the three pools at the aquatics centre and to put a roof over the third pool after the Games was the right one, as Armstrong Creek, Charlemont and Mount Duneed would have a population of close to 100,000 in the next decade or so.

“This community, like any other community across Geelong, is entitled to have indoor aquatics facilities.

“The legacy that’s going to be left here is amazing… without the Commonwealth Games, it’s very unlikely this community would have ever had an aquatics centre.”

He said the City of Greater Geelong “simply wouldn’t be unable to afford” the cost of running three new outdoor pools.

“I think the reality is that for the mums and dads who want to get their kids into swimming programs, you can’t do that in the middle of Armstrong Creek in the middle of winter [in an outdoor pool].”