Phillip pool with the WOVA development in the background. Photo: Geocon.
Independent Member for Murrumbidgee Fiona Carrick has welcomed the ACT Auditor-General’s move to investigate the changes to the requirements for the Phillip Pool site in the Territory Plan.
ACT Auditor-General Michael Harris said the audit will focus on the transparency of the administrative processes of the ACT Government agencies involved.
The requirements for the Phillip Pool were changed in late 2022 so that if the site were redeveloped, it would include an indoor 25-metre pool in place of the existing 50-metre outdoor pool.
Just a few weeks later, in December, the site was sold to property giant Geocon, which later unveiled plans to build five towers with 700 residential units.
Geocon developed the multi-tower WOVA precinct opposite the pool.
The development application for the first stage includes two 13-storey residential towers and a public aquatic centre with a 25-metre, eight-lane indoor lap pool as its centrepiece.
It will be accompanied by a splash pad, learn-to-swim area, toddlers’ swimming area, leisure swimming area, “program pool with relaxation area”, a steam and sauna room, café, as well as an outdoor water play/splash pad and entertainment area.
The audit will look at how the agencies identified and considered options for the future requirements of the Phillip Pool site within the context of changes to the Territory Plan and what they did to inform and consult with the community on proposed changes to the Territory Plan.
But it will not consider broader processes related to the repeal of the Planning and Development Act 2007 and implementation of the new Planning Act 2023 or the change from the Territory Plan (2008) to the new Territory Plan (2023).
Also not in its scope are activities associated with the redevelopment of the site, including the development application lodged in November 2024, or the planning for, or development of, locations for an ice-sports facility in the ACT, unless it is pertinent.
The audit is intended to be completed and presented to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for tabling in the first quarter of 2025-26.
Ms Carrick, who has been a fierce advocate for retaining the 50-metre public pool in Woden, said the ACT Government’s decision-making in changing the requirements for the Phillip Pool site in the 2023 Territory Plan was opaque.
She said it appeared to have been based on cherry-picked data that did not consider the current and future needs of the Woden Valley and Weston Creek communities that are served by Phillip Pool.
“I look forward to the Auditor-General’s report shedding more light on how the ACT Government made its decision to change the requirements for the Phillip Pool, and in whose interests that decision was made,” she said.
“It remains unclear how the operations of the new pool will be managed, how the interests of the community will be represented in its management, and whether the proposed pool will be financially viable as a public facility in the medium to long term.”
Mr Carrick’s advocacy for community facilities in the Woden Town Centre, including a 50-metre pool, was a key part of her election campaign.
