Swimmers Seek The Heat In Wet Mid Canterbury Summer

Tuesday, 28 January 2025, 9:27 pm
Article: Jonathan Leask - Local Democracy Reporter

Canterbury swimmers are flocking to Methven's hot pools as the chilly, wet summer makes outdoor pools less appealing.

Ōpuke Thermal Pools and Spa general manager Matt Turner said visitor numbers to their pools is up significantly, easily heading for a record January figure.

The $15 million Methven hot pools, which opened in 2021, had over 100,000 people visit in the first year.

“We are still pushing past 100,000 and continuing to grow,” Turner said.

Winter remains peak season on the back of the Mt Hutt Ski Area bringing people to town, but visitation continues to increase throughout the year, Turner said.

“It’s a great thing having the town being so busy.

“Anytime we are busy, the roll-on effect for the town and the district is huge.”

The pool's summer popularity had been helped by Mid Canterbury’s only indoor pool, at Ashburton’s EA Network Centre, closing for maintenance work in January.

“We have had a few guests say with EA Networks Centre being closed they came to us for their water fix,” Turner said.

Ashburton District Council people and facilities group manager Sarah Mosley said the Hampstead School Pool was opened to provide a swimming option while the EA Networks Centre pool was closed.

There were no expectations for attendance or that swimmer numbers would cover the cost of operating the outdoor pool, she said.

Between January 3 and 26, the pool has opened on 22 of the 24 days, with a total of 497 swimmers Mosley said.

“The weather does affect swimmer numbers and on one warm day we had 43 swimmers.”

Total revenue in pool takings for this period was around $1700.

The Hastings District Council reported having 12,864 fewer visitors to the city’s Splash Planet amusement park earlier this month due to the cold and wet weather, meaning a drop in revenue of $320,000.

Things aren’t so bad in Mid Canterbury as the maintenance closure was factored into the budgets, Mosley said.

The majority of the maintenance is going to plan, and the aquatic area is scheduled to re-open on February 3, she said.

“The leisure pool area (splash deck, toddlers’ pool, and lazy river) could be a week later because a replacement part in the filter equipment is coming from overseas.

"While that’s disappointing, the fault was only identified when the maintenance work began.”

Visitor numbers to the Selwyn Aquatic Centre in Rolleston, which has five indoor pools, had remained largely steady, but were down at the district’s satellite pool sites - all outdoor pools.

“We are in the process of bedding in a new point of sale system, so we don't have the exact stats at the moment, but early indications are that visits are down around 10-15%,” Selwyn’s head of sport and recreation James Richmond said.

There are outdoor pools at Darfield, Sheffield, Southbridge, Killinchy and the Leeston learners pool.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

© Scoop Media

Local Democracy Reporting

Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.