Parliamentary Committees

Public Works Committee: SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre Renewal Works

Mr BROWN (Florey) (11:03): I move:

That the 71^st report of the committee, entitled SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre Renewal Works, be noted.

The Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing proposes to undertake maintenance renewal works at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre facility located at Marion. These project works include the replacing of pool liners, retiling of the concourse, change room upgrades and other general facility works.

The South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre is the state's premier competition and training aquatic centre, hosting major sporting events and providing a cutting-edge training environment. The facility is the only pool in South Australia that is compliant with FINA swimming regulations for swimming, diving and water polo. It is also Australia's only facility that has two 50-metre pools in the same arena with the spectator capacity required for national and select international FINA-sanctioned events.

Since it opened in 2011, the facility has serviced 1.3 million people annually, which is an additional 600,000 people per year than it was originally designed to accommodate. The increased patronage has meant that the facility has aged quicker than anticipated with these renewal works addressing this issue.

As one of South Australia's major stadia, the government recognises the need for future investment at the facility to ensure a continuity of operation. As part of the state government's 2023-24 budget, $23.5 million was allocated for these upgrades.

The proposed renewal works include critical maintenance of the pools and building facilities. The critical pool maintenance will include pool liner replacement for the diving, competition, learn to swim and warm water pools, as well as the replacement of the aqua playground, the repair and reinstatement of the water slides, and upgrades to the resistance training pool. The pool gas water heaters will also be replaced with electric water heat pumps.

Building works include the replacement of the reception turnstiles with increased automation for improved accessibility, full change room renovations, full retiling of the pool concourse, refurbishment of the dive tower, new LED lighting, solar panels installed on the car park roof, and provisions for new starting blocks for swimming.

These renewal works will ensure service continuity with limited disruptions to the centre users. The works are also needed to maintain the centre to FINA's international standards, as well as meeting broader regulatory compliance. Furthermore, the works are being conducted to ensure that the pool liner replacement occurs within the warranty period to prevent pool lining failure.

The works will enable the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre to continue to provide world-class facilities and futureproof the facility for the next 10 years. The facility has provided a cutting-edge training environment for some of Australia's best and most successful Olympic swimmers and these works will allow it to continue to attract the best talent to South Australia by offering high-performance programs.

The project is expected to be delivered in a series of nine stages. Construction is estimated to begin in October this year, with completion by October 2025. The facility will remain operational during the renewal program, with the aim to work on one pool at a time. The works are being coordinated by the same team handling the arrangements for both the Adelaide and Thebarton aquatic centres. This provides an excellent understanding of community priorities and emphasises the importance of maintaining access during the project.

Due to the critical nature of the works, as well as the value of the proposed works and interrelationship between the works packages, the project will be overseen by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport's Building Projects section.

The office has highlighted some project risks to be mitigated during the construction phase. With the centre remaining operational, where possible works will be conducted to minimise the impact upon events, patrons and the wider community. Early contractor involvement is occurring to ensure realistic industry construction time frames. Some materials will need to be ordered from overseas and to avoid delays materials will be ordered early in the process.

Additionally, further measures have been put in place to allow the Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing, in conjunction with the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, to develop a procurement strategy that would obtain the best long-term return for government, whilst maintaining continuity of service in the interim.

The project will incorporate several sustainable development elements in its design. These include:

the installation of a solar system on the car park roof, which will offset some power requirements;

the installation of LED lighting that will be dimmable and use light sensors to ensure only the number of lights required will be utilised;

the replacement of the gas boilers with electric heat pumps, which removes the carbon footprint associated with gas use and allows the energy to be offset with renewable energy;

the upgrade of the building management system to provide advanced monitoring across the facility, allowing the operator to sculpt energy usage, use more solar and off-peak energy, and reduce load to the grid and overall cost; and

the use of digital meters to track water usage and detect leaks earlier.

Advice from the Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation team states that the Register of Aboriginal Sites and Objects has no entries for Aboriginal sites within the project area. A search of the South Australian Property and Planning Atlas confirms there are no state or local heritage places or contributory heritage items in the project area. The South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre building sits adjacent to the state heritage listed Marion Cultural Centre and any external works will need to be sensitive to this connection.

The office has conducted community and stakeholder consultation in relation to these works. This has included government agencies such as the Department for Infrastructure and Transport and the Department for Education, the Marion council, sporting bodies such as the South Australian Sports Institute, Diving SA and Swimming SA, and other stakeholders including the YMCA and Marion Physiotherapy.

The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to the renewal works of the South Australian Aquatic and Leisure Centre. Witnesses who appeared before the committee were Adam Trottman, the Director, Infrastructure and Planning, Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing; Tom Etherton, Manager, Recreation and Sport Planning, Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing; and Anthea Shem, Manager, Venues and Capital Projects, Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing. I thank the witnesses for their time.

Based upon the evidence considered and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Motion carried.