City of Gosnells abandons $132m aquatic hub plan and resets project
City of Gosnells has shelved its $132 million SPLASH plan after funding shortfalls, with Mayor Terresa Lynes saying a scaled-back aquatic centre is now the city’s best path forward.
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
The move ends nearly two years of campaigning and lobbying for the original Sutherlands Park Leisure, Aquatic and Sports Hub, known as SPLASH, after the council failed to win the funding it needed from higher levels of government. The city had committed $66 million, while seeking $16 million from the State Government and $50 million from the Commonwealth to cover the rest of the cost. Under the revised approach, the city will now work toward an $80 million centre, with the outdoor pool likely to be removed from the initial design and the basketball component shifted elsewhere.
The original concept was pitched as the first facility of its kind in the city, with an eight-lane outdoor 50m pool, an indoor leisure pool, a learn-to-swim pool, a spa, steam room, sauna, creche, cafe and indoor sports courts. The city said the project was intended to serve a growing community in Southern River and the wider south-east corridor, where demand for aquatic facilities has long outstripped supply. Gosnells has more than 140,000 residents but only one aquatic facility, Leisure World in Thornlie, which opened in the early 1990s and has a single 25m lap pool.
Mayor Lynes said the city had gone through workshops, site visits and comparisons with aquatic centres across Australia before accepting that state and federal support had not materialised. She said construction costs continued to rise and that the city needed a plan that reflected “today’s reality,” while still keeping the door open for eventual expansion. The council also voted to begin planning for an indoor sports court facility in Maddington to replace the courts originally proposed for SPLASH.
In a separate city statement earlier in the campaign, Lynes argued the proposal was about more than sport, saying water safety was a serious issue and that the city’s diverse community needed secure, inclusive facilities where people of all ages could learn to swim. She said the city, where 44 per cent of residents were born overseas, had a responsibility to create a connected and safe community. She also noted population growth projections that would take the city from about 137,000 residents in 2024 to more than 187,000 by 2046.
Lynes said funding for a facility of this size should not fall solely on local ratepayers, pointing to government contributions for similar projects elsewhere in Perth. She said the city deserved backing when other local government areas had received substantial support for comparable developments. The city has also said it spent about $300,000 designing the original proposal and expects to spend another $250,000 to $300,000 on the scaled-back plans, which are due to go before council by March 2027.
All rights belong to their respective owners. This article contains references and insights based on publicly available information and sources. We do not claim ownership over any third party content mentioned.
DAILY WA © 2025
Daily WA Online is an independent news and media platform covering Western Australia. Owned by TMFS International Pty Ltd., we publish local stories, business insights, lifestyle features, and community voices for the digital era.
