Physiotherapy pool much missed by users

• Published date: 19 May 2022
• Publication title: Star, The

‘‘You want a good building that actually is fit for purpose, particularly for people with disabilities.’’

Otago Therapeutic Pool Trust secretary-treasurer Neville Martin said he had a long connection with the facility and was a past trustee in 1991.

Leasing the pool for the long term from the SDHB would include taking over full operation of the pool.

‘‘ So that means it will become responsible for how the infrastructure is operated, maintained, paid for, and all the risk associated with that.’’

When the failure of a heat exchanger in May last year forced the closure of the pool the Trust, which until then operated the public-only sessions of the pool, advocated for the replacement of broken equipment by the SDHB so the pool could reopen.

‘‘However, it became evident during discussions that a longer term solution was necessary to justify spending a significant amount of money on new equipment when other equipment could fail and when there were numerous items of deferred maintenance which needed to be addressed urgently.’’

The SDHB had agreed in principle to work with the trust to develop a long term lease of the site on which the pool was situated and the pool itself.

The detail of the lease was yet to be agreed, but the expectation was that the SDHB would no longer be responsible...