Continuing consultation
The new Ringwood District Aquatic & Leisure Centre is taking shape following architectural firm Peddle Thorp Melbourne's work with key user groups to seek feedback on proposed elements of the facility.
Since September 2011, when Peddle Thorp was awarded the design contract, they have been conducting a range of community consultation activities with key user groups of the current Ringwood Aquatic Centre.
Using this information Peddle Thorp developed initial concept plans that were then reviewed at a second set of consultation sessions.
These sessions have been a valuable source of information for the designers, who have now put together a concept that best caters for the needs of a broad range of user groups.
Previous consultation
Four options – April to May 2011
At its meeting on Monday 28 March 2011, Council resolved that four options for the future of Ringwood Aquatic Centre be placed on public exhibition from Friday 1 April to Monday 2 May 2011. All options required closure of the Ringwood Aquatic Centre for the duration of the construction period.
Council received 294 written submissions from the Maroondah community.
Panel hearing
A panel hearing was held before a committee of Councillors on Monday 9 May 2011 giving people an opportunity to speak in support of their submission on the future of the Ringwood Aquatic Centre.
Only those who indicated on their written submission that they would like to speak in support of their submission were able to address the panel hearing. Thirty-eight people elected to speak to their submission, and of the 38, only 31 attended and spoke.
Following the submission hearing, a report was provided to the Council Meeting of 16 May 2011 where Council adopted the recommendation to build an Enhanced Option Three model.
During the consultation process the community indicated that they wanted to maintain the same level of facilities, they wanted the pool closure to coincide with the demolition and construction timeframes, and they wanted to know that it was fully funded.
Council has responded to all of these issues:
- the Enhanced Option Three model ensures the same level of facilities for separate diving and 50 metre swimming are maintained
- the decision to extend the closing date to 30 June 2012 ensures timelines for closure meet the demolition and construction timeframes
- with the endorsement of Council’s Budget and Long Term Financial Strategy, Council has the project fully funded.
