THE McGowan Government has defended its decision to give the City of Wanneroo $10 million towards a proposed community swimming pool facility at Alkimos, which does not appear to comply with its WA Recovery plan guidelines.
According to WA.gov.au the WA Recovery plan was designed to help create more jobs and open up training opportunities to drive increased economic activity and continue to bring back hope, prosperity and wellbeing to Western Australians.
To date the City of Wanneroo still has to obtain land at Alkimos before it can build the north coast aquatic facility there and by its own timeframe – agreed to by councillors on July 28 –the aquatic centre is not likely to open until early 2030.
A McGowan Government spokesman said investment in community sport and recreation infrastructure in growing communities was a high priority and there was a strong need for a pool in the rapidly growing northern coastal suburbs.
He said Butler MLA John Quigley and the broader community had all lobbied strongly for a pool in the area for many years.
“The McGowan Government’s $10m investment in the project as part of the WA Recovery plan will ensure the project can progress as quickly as possible,’’ he said.
“The state government is aware that the City of Wanneroo has explored site options and that the council has endorsed the Alkimos location as the preferred option for a pool to meet the current population’s needs.
“The Recovery plan funding for an Alkimos pool is consistent with this council decision.’’
Yanchep News Online asked when the City of Wanneroo would receive the $10m and would the city have to provide the state government with a business case or plans before it was eligible for the money.
The McGowan Government spokesman said the City of Wanneroo had endorsed the business case for the pool and would now undertake further detailed design work.
“The state government will work with the City of Wanneroo to determine when the project is ready to proceed and allocate funding according to project timeframes and milestones.’’
At the same time as the McGowan Government announced $10m for the Alkimos facility it also announced $2.67m for the Kingsway Regional Sporting Complex to assist with the development of community football facilities.
The spokesman said it was likely the funding would be provided in 2020-21 subject to satisfactory progress of the project.
“The state government will work collaboratively with the City of Wanneroo on the development of a financial assistance agreement.
“The city will need to provide a detailed project scope and project timelines to enable a funding agreement to be prepared, in line with standard state government requirements.’’
Opposition leader Liza Harvey said the Liberals had taken a bipartisan approach to the government’s recovery roadmap in the best interests of local jobs and to provide continuity and confidence, should they be elected at the upcoming state election.
