00:00With a development application lodged and artist impressions released to the public for the first time,
00:07Woden's next pool is taking shape at the bottom of what will ultimately become a five-tower, 700-unit Geocon residential development.
00:17I'm not overly happy about it. I know my daughter's a teacher and their school uses that pool.
00:23It doesn't really mean much to me. It might as well not exist anyway.
00:26Geocon, which owns the site of the current Phillip Pool and Ice Skating Centre, is required by the Territory Plan to keep a pool.
00:34They say there will be a 25-metre pool, splash pad, learn-to-swim area and café on the ground floor.
00:41They've also promised 50 car parking spaces and to keep the existing facilities operational while the first stage is being delivered.
00:49It's not enough. Why take away a facility and reduce it?
00:52A 25-metre indoor pool is not a replacement for a 50-metre pool. We are also concerned about losing the green area.
01:01The company purchased the site in late 2022 amid rising concerns from some in the community that the ageing outdoor pool stays were numbered
01:09and it would likely be turned over to high-rise development.
01:12The pool's previous owner had told the ACT Government as early as 2017 that the pool was becoming less popular and increasingly expensive to run.
01:21Some had hoped the Government would step in to buy and operate it.
01:25This battle hasn't been lost.
01:27What won't be retained in the final development is the ice skating rink.
01:31And while a new one was slated to be built in Tuggeranong instead, no opening date has been set.
01:37We would like to get final development applications in early next year.
01:44That facility had been initially proposed in 2016 and then again promised in the lead-up to the 2020 election and was meant to open next year.
01:54We're comfortable with that relationship with Geocon and comfortable with the timelines that they have.
02:00There also isn't yet a timeline for when the pool will open and the ACT Government won't comment on the project while the DA is under review.
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