Ilminster Pool Opened for Summer

MEDIA RELEASE / COMMUNITY NOTICE
4 January 2006

After being denied financial support from the Gisborne District Council, the Kaiti residents group KaPai Kaiti today opened Ilminster School Pool to the public. The pool will be open every day from 12 until 5pm with a gold coin donation for entry.
Qualified life guards and pool attendants will be on duty to supervise with pool with volunteers from KaPai Kaiti working in the tuck shop and providing additional supervision and support. 40-50 swimmers plus their caregivers can be catered for at any one time and organisers are expecting over 4,000 visitors during the 25 days the pool will be open.
Project organisers said that while Gisborne District Council had voted against financial support for the Ilminster Pool project they were grateful to Hendrik Roos at the Rockforte Olympic Pool complex for providing the Ilminster Pool lifeguards with pool management resources and training support.
The GDC voted to withhold the money that was set aside for community pools this summer and have been criticised by some Councillors for the decision based on the perceived alignment between the Council's stated strategic outcomes and the benefits arising from the pool being opened.
Funding support provided by KaPai Kaiti, Ilminster Intermediate and the Kaiti Mall TAB has allowed the project to proceed and organisers plan to petition Council again if the pool proves popular.

For more information contact:
DEANNA HARRISON: 027-4950573 or MANU CADDIE: 027-4202957