86 | Pool complex brings many benefits T T Kelly Deeks Earthworks under way at the Naenae Pool complex. COMMUNITY Hutt City Council: Naenae Pool and Fitness Centre The community-led redevelopment of the Naenae Pool complex and associated buildings in the town centre is set to bring a multitude of benefits to town, meeting and potentially exceeding the vision the community has for its future. Closed in 2019 due to seismic issues, the decision was made to rebuild Naenae Pool, and use the project as a catalyst to revitalise Naenae town centre. “We felt it was important to talk to the community about how to get the most out of this really big investment into Naenae,” says Hutt City Council neighbourhoods and communities director Andrea Blackshaw. “After three months of community engagement about what would make life better for the people of Naenae, we were able to put together a plan for not only the rebuild of the pool, but also the development of community buildings in the town centre.” Naenae’s wonderful pedestrianised shopping mall, Hillary Court, was brought a lot of foot traffic from Naenae Pool and when it closed in 2019, nearby retailers and businesses felt the hit. “The pool was a meeting place for people to come together,” Andrea says. “It was a real intergenerational facility with something for the little kids, something for the rangatahi, something for mum and dad, and something for the grandparents as well.” Community consultation has led to the view that an integrated community hub as operates successfully in Taita and Stokes Valley would not necessarily be the best way to support the town centre in Naenae,, and that the people would rather see the pool, the community centre, and the library operating in three separate areas, increasing the foot traffic around Hillary Court and increasing the sense of safety with people moving between well-lit, open spaces. The strategically placed Post Office heritage building in the middle of Hillary Court with its landmark clock tower is being redeveloped as a community centre. The library is located at the north-west end of Hillary Court, while the new Naenae Pool will be near its original location, across Everest Avenue at the south-east end of Hillary Court. The rebuild of Naenae Pool has many and varied needs to fulfil when it comes to the diverse range of people who will be using the pool. Naenae Pool needs to serve as a back-up venue to the Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre at Kilbirnie, hosting aquatic sport regional events and competitions. And as a new Hutt City Council building, the rebuild of Naenae Pool has to be affordable, good value for money, and sustainably built. “Hutt City Council has the goal of being carbon neutral by 2040, and so we are building Naenae Pool to a 5 Green Star rating, the standard for New Zealand excellence.” Helping with the design are a community advisory group and an aquatic sports advisory group, which have both been brought together to hear each other’s views and talk about how to compromise so everyone can have a bit of what they need. “They have pretty much worked that out amongst themselves,” Andrea says. She says the new pool will need to work extremely hard to meet the needs of aquatic sports and the local community. “While the 50m pool is retained for aquatic sports, the design will also enable a lot of different fun activities through the use of things like inflatables. “There will also be a removable floor and the popular zoom tube is being returned. We are even looking at having a bombing platform. In the end it will be the people that bring the pool to life, and we want to give them as much help to do that as we can.” “In the end it will be the people that bring the pool to life, and we want to give them as much help to do that as we can.” Auckland Office Unit 31 / 761 Great South Road Penrose, Auckland Wellington Office Unit 8B, 33 Pito-One Road Korokoro, Lower Hutt www.mcmservices.co.nz | 0800 626 2466 New Zealand Wide. Complete Deconstruction Solutions. Asbestos Removal | Demolition | Environmental Remediation Demolition of Lower Hutt’s Naenae Olympic Pool is now underway, marking the beginning of a multi million dollar rebuild journey that will restore not only the pool, but also the adjacent Hilary Court shopping centre and other nearby businesses. Undertaking the demolition is McMahon Services New Zealand, a large Australasian company providing complete deconstruction solutions nationwide and throughout Australia. Operating in New Zealand since 2017 and arriving here permanently in 2019, McMahon Services puts sustainability at its forefront and is pleased to have a client who shares the same ethos. “A huge driver for this project is recycling, and we are aiming for a 95% recycling rate for all the waste on site,” says McMahon Services National Business Development Manager Libby Nanai. “We have decided to use a concrete crusher on site and having been built in the 1950s, this building contains a lot of concrete. Once it is crushed to the required speci ication, we will re-use the concrete to back ill the site. We have also salvaged a huge amount of timber which has gone to the local MenzShed, and we held salvage days on site right at the start of the project, where the community was invited to come down and take whatever they wanted. We had all sorts of old gym Complete deconstruction solutions equipment and furniture, and people who have swum here for years have taken the old starter blocks as a bit of a memento.” This salvage programme has also put McMahon Services in contact with Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Paekawakawa, Island Bay, an impressive and unique structure built in 2017 by the Stewart family and their supporters almost entirely from recycled materials. This complex was razed to the ground in 2019 by a tragic ire, and the rebuild e ort is again focused on the use of recycled materials. As well as materials, McMahon Services is providing work experience for young people, welcoming Lorence from Tapu Te Ranga Marae to the demolition team and upskilling him with bobcat operation, deconstruction techniques, and NZQA quali ications. “This is an all-round feel good story and one we are very proud to be part of,” Libby says. “It is McMahon Services’ irst big demolition project in the Wellington region, and really key to our growth in New Zealand. When the pool closed three years ago due to its seismic risk and people were no longer able to swim, that part of Naenae closed with it. As locals of Lower Hutt, we wanted to be part of bringing it back for the community.”
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