City of Newcastle has lauded a boom in visitor numbers to its inland pools a year after it controversially leased its five pools to private operator Bluefit for up to 21 years.
In a statement on Friday, the council said the city's pools had experienced their busiest summer in 30 years and a user survey conducted by Bluefit had returned glowing feedback.
The council said 410,000 visitors had used the public pools according to figures collated with a month still remaining in the season; the highest annual visitation numbers since 1997.
Lambton Park War Memorial Swimming Centre recorded a near 50 per cent bump - or, an extra 26,000 visitors from January through March - the council said, after a $2.2-million grandstand was installed just before Christmas.
Wallsend saw 11,000 more visitors to the end of March compared to last year, with similar bumper figures at Stockton, which had 8000 more visits, Mayfield which had a 24 per cent bump, and Beresfield, which doubled its visitations year-on-year in December.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the council had prioritised investment in the city's pools.
"We know visitor numbers were reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, but these statistics prove our pools are more popular than ever," Cr Nelmes said. "Our five inland pools hosted 91 special events and carnivals across the summer, as well as six major events including the Australian Water Polo League Games, Diving NSW Country Championships and NSW Underwater Hockey championships."
The decision to lease the council's pools drew ire from several corners of the community, as the council called for feedback on the lease in a Sydney newspaper in July last year after CEO Jeremy Bath selected Bluefit as the preferred tender for the management and operation of the pools.
