Council replaces long-standing swim school operator at Corrimal pool

DESPITE overwhelming support from Corrimal Swim Club, the long-term licensee of the swim school at Corrimal Pool, has been controversially replaced by Wollongong City Council.

The commercial licence for the provision of swim school and squad lessons for Corrimal Pool has been awarded to EC Sportz Swim and Surf School

The new operators replace Tracey Waters, who has held the licence for swimming lessons at the pool for decades.

The new operators will start to offer swimming and squad lessons from January 2024, at the conclusion of the licence of the current operator.

Wollongong City Council Director Community Services Kerry Hunt said EC Sportz Swim and Surf School will start their four-year term at Corrimal Pool offering both swimming and squad lessons.

“We appreciate change can generate feelings of uncertainty and we will be working with the new licensee as well as the existing operator to ensure the transition is as seamless as possible,” she said.

While welcoming a new business into the facility, Council is also keen to see the long-term relationship with Corrimal Swim Club continue. The community-based, not-for-profit Club uses the pool’s Club House and Shed for its meetings together with pool lanes.

It’s a legislative requirement for Council to carry out a competitive process when allowing for a commercial business to operate out of a Council owned and managed facility.

Council regularly goes to market and undertakes competitive processes for capital and maintenance works projects across the city, the provision of certain services like road marking and kiosks, and for the use of our facilities for commercial programs like swimming lessons.

For each quotation there is specific and clear criteria that must be met to ensure the service being delivered meets Council and the community’s needs, is in line with industry best practice and to ensure the process we undertake is fair, equitable and transparent. Council’s competitive processes do offer additional weighting in to order to attract and support local businesses.

While each process is specific to the service being provided, in this case, the criteria took into account rent, experience and performance, working relationships with community groups, relevant clubs and associations, strengthening of local economic capacity and the management of WHS risk associated with the delivery of service. In addition, respondents had to provide letters of reference.

Respondents also had to demonstrate they meet specific criteria including qualifications like AUSTSWIM Teacher of Swimming, Water Safety and/or AUSTSWIM Teach of Infant and Preschool Aquatics or ASTCA Swim Australia Teacher and/or ASTCA Swim Australia Teacher of Babies and Toddlers, and a Swim Australia Foundation Coach.

“We appreciate some families value the current provider of swimming and squad lessons at Corrimal Pool,”Ms Hunt said.

“We have also received correspondence from some current members of Corrimal Swim Club, which has a longstanding relationship with Council and uses the facility.

“The quotation and the Club’s operations are two separate matters, and the awarding of the licence for commercial services at Corrimal Pool to a new provider does not detract from the efforts of previous providers.

“It demonstrates that the provider who will start in 2024 was ranked through the competitive process as the provider who most meets the requirements and needs of Council at this point in time.

“We look forward to continuing our long and well-established relationship with the Swim Club.’’

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