27/10/2025
If you are once again thinking 'WHAT THE?' then come along to the 2025 PIAC Fund AGM on the 19th of Nov via zoom at 7pm. We are not giving up! Are you? Come and ask us 'Where did all the money go? Where are the bricks? And more delightful questions. Plus join as member, maybe even join the committee, and from the comfort of your own home.
Contact Peter for the zoom meeting link 0418 533 256.
From the Phillip Island & San Remo Advertiser 21.10.25
"Nose dive: after more than 30 years island pool again shelved"
Bass Coast Shire's mayor said it was a "tough" decision to delay a community pool for Phillip Island and she empathised with residents who had fought for one "for a long time".
As reported last week, councillors at the October meeting voted in support of the amended Bass Coast Shire Aquatic Strategy, which has Wonthaggi's pool upgrade as the priority.
The strategy - which is open for community feedback until November 6 - states planning and advocacy for Phillip Island will start following completion of the Wonthaggi redevelopment.
Successive pool committees and residents have worked to establish an aquatic centre on Phillip Island, since the first pool committee was formed in 1991.
Mayor Rochelle Halstead told the meeting and about 40 residents in the public gallery at Berninneit "I feel for Phillip Island, I really do".
"I know they have been advocating for a long time," she said.
"It's a difficult situation with funding limited at state and federal levels. We can't deliver assets without the support of government.
"We have advocated hard for a two-pool strategy and we have fallen flat.
"I congratulate councillors for making this tough decision. It hasn't been an easy decision because we know how strongly our communities feel about this.
"I hope people realise it wasn't an easy decision.
"We haven't taken Phillip Island off the future plans and if a sooner opportunity presents, we will be all over it."
Cr Ronnie Bauer said for years he had "total commitment" to a Phillip Island pool, but he was "also a realist and pragmatic".
"In the current climate our advocacy only allows for one aquatic centre," Cr Bauer said.
"The Wonthaggi pool does need some very urgent attention. Not if but when it breaks down, we have nothing comparable in the shire.
"From a population centre perspective, renovating the Wonthaggi swim complex makes sense and quite frankly is our only option.
"The Wonthaggi pool will do the job for the shire until such time we are able to build the Phillip Island Aquatic Centre."
Cr Bauer also said he had "fought tooth and nail to keep the Phillip Island aquatics alive albeit on life support", with a line item in the 10-year long term financial plan for Bass Coast aquatics (plural).
He added projects could quickly be reprioritised with "one election promise".
Cr Tim O'Brien said the priority for Phillip Island was to progress the recreation reserve, on the corner of Phillip Island and Ventnor roads, specifically a "critical mass" of sporting facilities such as football ovals, after which the pool would follow.
"For Phillip Islanders who may have wanted us to press ahead with both pools, it was never going to happen," Cr O'Brien said.
"It was far too costly. This is getting things in the right order, keeping Phillip Island on the agenda."
Cr Brett Tessari said since 2016 council had advocated in Melbourne and Canberra for two pools but "it didn't work".
"We were told we were never going to get the funding for two pools," he said.
Cr Meg Edwards said Wonthaggi was the only public pool in Bass Coast and its current disrepair meant "we are at risk of having no pool", which would be "catastrophic".
"Phillip Island's pool is not off the table," she said.
"How do you eat an elephant? Take one bite at a time."
Cr Halstead said the decision was a pragmatic response to current financial realities.
"Redevelopment will allow us to continue delivering vital aquatic and leisure services to our community, while positioning us to attract future funding for a Phillip Island facility," she said.
Strategy
The original Bass Coast Shire Aquatic Strategy was released in 2015, which supported a two-pool strategy - both Wonthaggi and Cowes - which was followed in 2021 by feasibility studies supporting two pools.
The 2025 amendment re-focuses attention, saying Wonthaggi has Bass Coast's only existing pool, which is nearing the end of its life and needs about $10 million to keep it open.
The 2025/26 budget allocates $500,000 to start the detailed designs of the Bass Coast Aquatic and Leisure Centre.
The strategy states there are a range of risks in continuing to pursue a two-pool strategy.
Since 2015, the Wonthaggi North East Precinct Structure Plan has been gazetted, altering the future population of Wonthaggi, with 5000 new homes or about 12,000 new residents planned.
In addition, advocacy to state and federal governments for two-pools has "failed to achieve funding".
Furthermore, funding two pools would put "unsustainable" pressure on council budgets and increase "long-term debt exposure".
In 2021 a Bass Coast Shire Council study recommended Cowes have a "district level" 25m x 8 lane competition pool, combined learn-to-swim and hydrotherapy area, and 24-hour gym, at a cost of $45.7 million.
The study also recommended a $41 million new pool for Wonthaggi: 25m x 10 lanes, with a larger gym, new spa and sauna.
https://engage.basscoast.vic.gov.au/bass-coast-aquatic-and-leisure-centre-redevelopment-concept-plan
https://hdp-au-prod-app-bass-engage-files.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/9717/5997/9720/2015_Bass_Coast_Aquatic_Strategy_-_Ammended_Sep_2025_DRAFT.pdf
