Wagga Oasis Aquatic Centre free entry on heatwave days policy to face council debate on permanent status

The policy was enacted on an interim basis nearly two weeks ago in response to a record-breaking heatwave and health alerts.

Mayor Greg Conkey said the exact numbers of people who had taken advantage of the free entry, enacted after the temperature hits 41 degrees, would be presented during the meeting.

“It certainly has been successful and the feedback from the community has been very positive,” he said.

“These new fees and charges give the general manager more flexibility. At the moment the general manager is not allowed to discount or change policy of council as far as fees are concerned.

“I have the power to do that in extreme circumstances, which I did on January 17.”

The council has created a forecast of how much revenue the Oasis centre will lose every time free entry is declared from 2pm, which was between $1300 and $1700 per day.

“Whist there is an initial negative financial impact in providing free entry for casual use for a specified time period, the health and wellbeing benefit of providing this to the community far outweighs this cost,” a report to Councillors stated.

“It also provides an opportunity to community members who have not previously visited the Oasis, to experience the swim centre and they may then become repeat customers.” 

If passed, the motion would also allow the general manager to declare discounts of up to 50 per cent  “to support a promotion aimed at increasing participation and/or attracting new customers”.

In the latest council annual report, the council had a target of 290,000 visitors but secured only 274,996 during the 2018 financial year.

Cr Conkey said the move to create discounts was not related to the annual report figures.

Cr Dan Hayes, who had been part of a campaign for free swims during heatwaves, said the policy had been a success so far.

“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive; even those who didn’t use it saw the value in having the place open in extreme heat.

“We want people to have a place to cool down in extreme heat that is safer than the river.”

Cr Paul Funnell said he supported the concept of free entry during heatwaves but was concerned that not everybody would have the same level of access.

“(Disadvantaged) people from the outlying areas and suburbs don’t have enough money for public transport or taxis; people in the villages certainly don’t have that opportunity,” he said.

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