Wellington City Council commissioned a technical report to better understand the existing site conditions at Khandallah Pool and the adjoining park area. The report covered flood modelling, a geotechnical report, infrastructure review and a site analysis.

The findings of the site assessment report, completed in April, identify significant challenges and costs associated with mitigating resilience and vulnerability. The most significant findings being due to the risk of flooding from the nearby Tyers Stream and the potential for slope instability on the adjacent hill. Climate-change modelling predicts that this flood risk will increase. The site for any new pool would need to be reduced from the existing footprint and raised vertically by 1.8 metres to mitigate the flood risk.

In addition to this, investment is required to improve core infrastructure to support the build of any new pool. Specifically, installation of a dedicated transformer and installation of below-ground attenuation tanks. The report also highlighted parking constraints due to the changes required at the site.

Kym Fell, the Council’s Chief Customer and Community Officer, says, “It’s great to have the technical report completed as we now have a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of some of the challenges posed at the pool site. There is more work to be done to fully identify what is possible and to understand the needs of the community.

“A detailed options assessment will commence to explore what the relative merits, risks and costs are of the various options that the Council could now pursue given the new technical advice.

“It will be important to consider the impacts climate change will have on a site like this when we assess all viable options for the future,” Mr Fell says.

Council officers met with a stakeholder group of the local community on 22 June to share the findings of the report and discuss next steps. The Council will work collaboratively with the community to reach a decision for the future of the pool and park. Timings are yet to be determined but the Council will meet again with the stakeholder group within the next month followed by a wider community meeting.

To view the report, visit the Khandallah Pool project page.

https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/projects/khandallah-pool-upgrade

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