Queanbeyan Council will now set aside $500,000 for the retiling works. Photo: QPRC Aquatics Facebook.
Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) has made a splash with changes to its pool maintenance schedule.
QPRC initially planned that $250,000 from its 2025/26 capital works budget would cover retiling of Queanbeyan’s outdoor pool.
The 50-metre pool is one of two pools at the Queanbeyan Aquatic Centre, the other being a 25-metre indoor pool.
A recent council meeting heard there had been “some uplifting” of tiles at the facility.
But repair works will be delayed under a plan to prioritise other upgrades, after councillors unanimously voted to reallocate the money.
Council’s meeting documents state this will see the money spent on “critical infrastructure upgrades” at the facility, targeting pool infrastructure and systems.
During the discussion, councillor Mareeta Grundy asked about the impact of the works being delayed.
“[Is] there any danger in those upgrades not being done, in terms of those users having issues – safety issues – around tiles?”
In response, a staff member said that patch repairs had been carried out.
She told the meeting QPRC was confident this meant there was no “immediate danger to people tripping and falling” at the pool.
Council documents state the “critical” repairs are expected to be carried out during the current financial year.
These works will see the replacement of aging filters (in both pools), as well as upgrades or other improvements to channel drain screens, worn-out valves and flow monitoring systems.
“Temporary repair work has addressed immediate concerns with the outdoor pool surrounds and delayed the immediate need for full-scale retiling.”
Councillor John Preston sought further information on why the proposed $500,000 for the retiling was double what was initially budgeted for.
“I will support this … [but] we do need to take care that routine maintenance that we’ve already allocated [money for], that we’re putting off doesn’t end up costing us a heck of a lot more in the future, because we have put it off.
“We just need to be careful that we get the balance right on those things.”
The staff member confirmed that further repair works were still being planned by the council.
“We believe that retiling will still be necessary in the future – we’re not sure how long the patching will last.”
The $500,000 also includes about $18,600 in contingency funds.
She said it was hoped the higher amount would cover any further increases to the cost of the works, describing a $388,000 quote obtained by council as being “much higher than what we anticipated”.
Council meeting documents state the figure was the result of the only tender received by QPRC.
The staff member also stated that the full retiling works were instead expected to occur in 2027/28.
According to the Queanbeyan Aquatic Centre’s website, the outdoor pool’s season ran from October until 2 April.
