Mr Wallace said the techniques used to build the temporary Astral Skypool that was used for the 12th FINA World Championships in Melbourne in 2007 is now being utilised by local government for permanent major community swimming pools.

Image right: AstralPool installed two temporary Skypool pools for the 9th FINA 25m World Swimming Championships in Manchester in 2008.

"The first permanent prefabricated Olympic size swimming pool is being built as part of the first stage of the Townsville City Council's $5.4 million Northern Beaches Leisure Centre located at the new Stockland Waterway Gardens development at Burdell.

"The pool is being built by local builder TP Aquatic Constructions headed by Chris Taylor who have been overseas to attend special training programs on the construction of the Astral Skypool.

Pool builders, engineers and council representatives from around Australia will visit Townsville to inspect the progress of the new prefabricated swimming pool.

The Leisure Centre featuring an outdoor 50 metre, eight lane competition swimming pool is a joint project with Townsville City Council, developers the Stockland Group and the Queensland Government.

Mr. Wallace said that Townsville City Council, Stockland and the Queensland Government have set a unique and cost effective innovative approach for the funding and delivery of public swimming pools in the future.

The Astral Skypool system uses free standing panels of hot galvanized steel allowing a pool to be built without traditional major construction activities such as the formation of a concrete shell.

"This prefabricated system overcomes skilled labour shortages as the prefabricated Astral Skypool can be built by people with basic skills under the direction of a small project management team.

"This combined with the speed of the construction can save councils hundreds of thousands of dollars when compared to the construction of the traditional concrete and tiled pools.

However, the biggest saving for councils and ratepayers relates to the easy and cost effective refurbishment of prefabricated pools which can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars for the traditional concrete swimming pool, Mr Wallace said.

In the last decade many councils have had to cope with community swimming pool crisis whilst juggling increasing demands on their tightening budgets due to cost shifting by Federal and State Governments.

A recent report to the Moreland City Council in Victoria on the Coburg Swimming Pool, which has already been closed for two summers, showed 'leak remediation' would cost up to $271,000.

"The Astral Pool being built for the City of Townsville has a fifteen year guarantee on its special liner, which is easy to repair. The cost of replacing the liner is approximately $30,000 to $35,000 which provides councils with certainty in budgeting and the ability to quickly refurbish swimming pools.

"The vast difference in cost allows councils to extend the use of the budgets into other productive areas rather than swimming pool leaks and dealing with community concerns."

The community and local government regard swimming pools as a core part of a community fabric providing health, sporting and community activity.

Swimming is one of the easiest and most enjoyable sports to participate in and, unlike other sports, it as well as being a superb recreational activity, it is critical in reducing the risk of drowning.

Mr. Wallace said that cost effective and timely solutions to dealing with leaking pools in the future is one of the major considerations of decision makers in Government and Local Government who are planning to build new public pools in budget sensitive climates.

Media Enquiries:
Ron Smith Corporate Media Communications Astral Pool Mobile: 0417 329 201

For Technical queries contact:
David Orrock Product Manager Commercial Pools Astral Pool Australia Pty Ltd
Mobile: 0419 555 142
www.astralpool.com.au

AstralPool and FINA World Swimming Championships
AstralPool built a temporary swimming pool that was used for the 12th FINA World Championships in Melbourne from 17 March to 1 April 2007. Why not look at how they built the temporary 25-metre pool that was used at the 8th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) to see how it's done, click here.

AstralPool used the same technology it employed in the highly successful Barcelona pool at the 10th FINA World Championships as it did for the recent FINA World Swimming Championships (25m).