Taking stock of major project’s progress

Following a full financial year of operation, Council was provided with an update on the financial performance and costs associated with the construction of Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre at the September 2024 Council meeting.

City of Mount Gambier CEO Sarah Philpott explained that the report provides the community with a transparent overview of operations.

“Wulanda is a fantastic facility built for our community and the report not only outlines the costs, but also what has been achieved in the first twelve months of operation with management partner Belgravia Leisure,” Ms Philpott said.

“We’ve put this report together to lay it all out for our community. We’ve pieced it all together so people can better understand the costs and benefits.”

Since opening in late 2022, Wulanda has established its place within the community to provide a diverse range of facilities to support community wellbeing through sport and recreation.

Membership numbers at the end of June 2024:

869 GO Swim members

597 Health club members and 478 aquatic members (1,944 combined)

“Usage is much higher than we anticipated. While we had an initial target of 120,000 direct attendances, we’ve actually had close to 170,000 and that doesn’t even include everybody – that’s just the people who are swiping in for particular services, like the gym or the pools. Then there’s others who are attending events such as those who come and watch the Pioneers.”

The centre has had strong support from user groups with 26 annual hire agreements signed in 2023/2024, ranging from sporting and community groups through to education and health.

“That’s ultimately the reason Council made an initial investment in the capital costs for Wulanda, our community deserves great facilities. Wulanda is an example of a wonderful place for our community to use on a daily basis. Our regular users, the people who are doing their lap swimming every day, or the local sporting groups using the facility are the heartbeat of Wulanda, and it’s packed.”

Wulanda provides an entertainment and conference venue to attract large scale community and cultural events, business events and conferences, and premier sporting events and activities to the region which were previously unable to be accommodated in Mount Gambier. Some of the major events hosted in 2023/2024 included the Rotary District Conference, Blue Lake City Custom Classic Car and Bike Show and the Adelaide 36ers.

“We continue to focus on attracting major events to Wulanda to ensure our community is exposed to a range of events they may not otherwise have had access to. We have taken the opportunity to, and continue to, speak with ministers and government about the facility to get it on the events radar from a statewide and interstate perspective.”

Wulanda’s financial performance is tracked and analysed closely. The facility recorded a total income of $2.7 million and a gross operating deficit of $1.23 million in 2023/2024.

“To be clear, when Council embarked on this major project several years ago now, we anticipated that the facility would initially operate in a deficit position and we anticipated depreciation costs for the use of the asset over its life,” Ms Philpott said.

“Council proactively worked to reduce the centre’s running expenses in 2023/2024 with a positive variance of $140,000 to the revised budget, reporting an actual gross operating deficit of $1.23 million.”

When thinking about costs, council’s CEO encouraged the community to consider that Wulanda has been built for the long term.

“Wulanda is a 60 year plus facility, an intergenerational asset for our community,” she said. “We attracted Federal and State funding and borrowed in order to spread out the impact of that cost. For Council to provide a quality community facility such as Wulanda, of course that does comes at a cost for the community, but the cost is ultimately about benefit.

“This facility is a venue unlike any other in our region and there was a lot to learn within the first 12 months of operation about how a new centre of this magnitude operates.”

“We’re not only providing a service which people pay for, but we are also making sure that young people are learning how to swim, that people are getting their exercise, that they’re entertained at events, and we are attracting people to our city and that is generating economic benefit.”