Proposed clean energy upgrades at our aquatic facilities

Council’s draft Long Term Plan 2024-2034 (LTP) proposes to allocate $6M to fund climate-conscious energy upgrades at our pools.

The project would convert the LPG water-heating systems at Alpine Aqualand, Wānaka Recreation Centre and Arrowtown Pools to cleaner energy sources such as electric heat pump systems. This is a key action (1.16) in our Climate and Biodiversity Plan.

The draft LTP, also known as the ten-year Council budget, provides options to make these upgrades between 2031 and 2033, or earlier between 2025 and 2027.

This project would be the most significant way we could reduce Council’s emissions and would result in the pools emitting little-to-no greenhouse gases into the air. Converting our facilities to renewable energy sources would also be more efficient and offer lower running costs over the long term.

In addition to this investment, the draft LTP contains several key commitments that support our Climate and Biodiversity Plan. This includes a new $1.6M organics kerbside collection service that’d divert organic material, such as food waste, from landfill. The service would reduce methane generation by implementing a district-wide organics collection for processing.

And in our 30 Year Infrastructure Strategy, there is a strong focus on strengthening our infrastructure’s resilience to the effects of climate change.

The final LTP will be decided by a full Council meeting on 19 September.

Read the draft Long Term Plan