Whittlesea council will spend $89.3 million on new aquatic and leisure centres and on maintaining existing facilities in the next 20 years.
The “major leisure and aquatic facility strategy”, adopted by the council last week, looks at the current and future needs of the council’s facilities, including Mill Park Leisure Centre, Thomastown Recreation and Aquatic Centre (TRAC) and the Whittlesea Swim Centre.
The council says TRAC has no immediate need for redevelopment, but the Mill Park and Whittlesea centres require $15 million and $1 million for refurbishment, with works to start in 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively.
Cr Sam Alessi described the strategy document as “visionary” but said works on the Mill Park site should begin earlier.
“We just can’t go on by fixing a showerhead, fixing a drinking fountain – it’s a lot more than that,” he said.
The council proposes building two centres, one for Mernda and one for Epping North/Wollert.
