Recreation and Aquatic Facility

At the Special Council Meeting held on Monday 15 March, Council approved the Recreation and Aquatic Facility Business Plan and authorised the CEO to sign the $20 million Federal Government grant funding for the project.

The Business Plan formally acknowledges the City’s intention to enter into a ‘major land transaction’ and enables the City to build on Collier Park Golf Course.

The City will now continue to work towards securing the remaining funding for the RAF project. Once the funding has been secured and the total budget for the project is known, Council will make further decisions regarding the budget and the design of the RAF.

The Council has also endorsed the findings of the RAF Business Case Peer Review by Deloitte and Warren Green Consulting (WGC) noting that there are no 'fundamental barriers' to the RAF progressing to the next stage. Council requested that the areas of further development identified in the Review should be undertaken at the next stage of the project and reported back by July 2021.

Copies of the RAF Business Plan, Peer Review summary report and Project Definition Plan are available on the RAF project page of the City's website along with details of project milestones to date and relevant documents and reports.

The Recreation and Aquatic Facility (RAF) Business Plan is now available for public comment.

The Business Plan details the City's proposal to develop the RAF to provide a premier health, wellness, fitness, recreation and education hub centrally located in the City of South Perth at the existing Collier Park Golf Course in Como.

All stakeholders including members of the public are invited to provide their feedback on the Business Plan by 5pm, Friday 22 January 2021.

A report will be presented to Council at the meeting in February 2021, where it will be determined whether to proceed with implementing the Business Plan.

At the November 2020 Council Meeting, Elected Members gave approval for the proposed RAF project to progress to the next stage.

They endorsed the RAF Business Plan for public comment and approved a financial commitment of $20 million to match the $20 million already promised by the Federal Government.

The City will now seek the additional funding required for the $80 million project through other project partners, to progress the project to the design phase of the proposed world class facility.

The City will carry out further due diligence, engaging suitable independent and relevant industry and financial experts with respect to financial modelling, key operation assumptions, operating cashflows and usage projections, which will be reported back to Council.

The feedback gathered during the stakeholder and community engagement for the RAF project has been analysed by independent consultant Research Solutions and outlined in their report ‘Going beyond: Results of the stakeholder and community engagement October 2020’ which will be presented to Council later this month.

There was a great response to the engagement activities, and key findings overall from the stakeholder engagement report identified a high level of support for the concept of the RAF with 87.2% of respondents to the survey indicating that they would use the proposed RAF.

As outlined in the report, the compelling reasons for developing the RAF were:

• Its location in the City of South Perth, more convenient than many of the current venues used (70.3% of respondents used facilities outside of the City)
• That it met the need for a swimming pool in the City of South Perth (79.4% of respondents had used an aquatic or indoor recreation facilities in the last 12 months)
• That it provides the opportunity to create a unique facility which meets the needs of the community.

Council will be considering these outcomes together with the RAF project business case at the online Agenda Briefing at 6pm, Tuesday 17 November 2020 and the online Ordinary Council Meeting at 6pm, Tuesday 24 November 2020.

The report and attachments for the Agenda Briefing are available on the City’s website. Members of the public may address Council by making deputations at the Agenda Briefing. Details about making a deputation and a deputation request form can be accessed on the City's website.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the RAF stakeholder and community engagement. There was a great response with 1,641 survey responses and approximately 160 people attending workshops and the community information day.

Next steps

Due to this strong response, and to give Council further time to consider the business case, the RAF project will now be considered at the November Ordinary Council Meeting where Council will determine whether to proceed to the next stage of the project.

The outcomes of the engagement will be published once the data analysis has been completed.

Complete the online survey for the chance to win one of five $100 Coles/Myer vouchers.

Complete the survey and help shape the RAF.

The City is hosting an online community workshop on Wednesday 16 September from 6:30-8pm, on Zoom. This workshop will explore the ways we can increase participation in sports, exercise and recreation and make the RAF an accessible and welcoming place for everyone.

If you’d like to attend this online workshop, please register here.* You will be sent a registration email with further details of how to login in and participate in the workshop, including how to log in.

*Due to limited numbers, registration closes at 3pm, Wednesday 16 September 2020.

Media release - Wednesday 17 April 2019

The prospect of an aquatic facility within the City of South Perth has been under consideration for some years, with a number of studies, reports and submissions prepared and received. One of the key strategies in the City’s Strategic Community Plan 2017-2027 is to: plan for and promote the development of recreation and aquatic facilities to service community needs. In light of this previous work and a desire to develop a functional and financially viable facility, the City has initiated the Recreational and Aquatic Facility (RAF) feasibility study.

The City has identified a gap in the recreational facilities available to the community in relation to the population, the size of which warrants a regional multipurpose sports and leisure facility based on Peak industry sporting body, Parks and Leisure Australia (PLA) guidelines.

An assessment undertaken in 2015 indicated that a conventional swimming pool, while publicly supported, would require substantial ongoing financial subsidy to meet operational costs.

The opportunity to integrate a number of sporting and recreation facilities into a single integrated venue will provide economies of scale in services provision, capital cost and ongoing operational costs.

For the project to progress, funding partners need to be identified. Federal financial support will also be sought in the lead up to the upcoming elections and additional partnership opportunities will be investigated. A range of key stakeholders will be engaged to determine the level of support and to ensure that the RAF will be a financially sustainable consideration both now and into the future.

Part of the study will involve engagement with external organisations within and adjacent to the City, including Curtin University, to explore partnership opportunities.

At the 2018 October Council meeting, the Council resolved to support further project research, start formal stakeholder engagement and commit to consultation with the community. It is anticipated that this will take place in early 2019.

Further details about the project can be found on the City's website.