A government takeover of the Phillip Swimming and Ice Skating Centre to control its redevelopment was among the options contemplated by officials before the site was sold to a developer, an audit has revealed.
The draft of a ministerial brief prepared in 2022 said the government "may wish to consider seeking to acquire the Crown lease" if it wanted to control the future of the site and noted "the era of a privately owned and operated swimming pool in Woden is inevitably coming to an end under the existing lease arrangement".
An Auditor-General's report, released on Friday, revealed the draft brief outlined several options for the site's future, including a preferred plan involving a 25-metre pool, indoor sports courts and "multipurpose facilities".
But the brief was never finalised or sent to ministers after the long-standing operators of the swimming pool and ice-skating rink sold it to the property development firm Geocon in December 2022.
The audit also showed then planning minister Mick Gentleman and Sport and Recreation Minister Yvette Berry approved a "detailed aquatic facility planning study" before any changes to the planning rules for the site, but officials never commissioned the study.
"There was consensus among ACT government officials as to what the future Territory Plan requirements for the site should be, but this had not been determined or supported by any specific needs analysis or 'a detailed aquatic facility planning study' that would 'determine whether loss of the existing Phillip pool will detrimentally impact public access to swimming facilities for the Woden community'," the audit said.
The Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate did not provide the Audit Office any evidence formally documenting the decision not to commission the planning study or evidence that a decision had been communicated to the ministers.
In 2021, officials had told ministers to consider removing the requirement for an ice skating rink and "structurally difficult and costly to achieve" 50-metre swimming pool on the site given work was underway on a new ice sports centre in Tuggeranong.
"The provision of smaller 25m pool and program pool will be less expensive to construct and will be more financially sustainable in respect to ongoing operation and maintenance costs," a brief said.
The audit noted the discussion of allowing a 25-metre pool at Phillip was under consideration about 17 months before the changes were included in the Draft Territory Plan in October 2022.
The Audit Office has recommended future changes to the Territory Plan for sport and recreation sites should be supported by documented assessments taking into account research and analysis of community needs and interests.
The outdoor, 50-metre swimming pool at Phillip was built by the Commonwealth government and opened in 1971. Glencora Pty Ltd was first granted a 10-year lease in 1979 and built the ice-skating rink, which provided heating for the pool from its refrigeration units.
Glencora operated the site on rolling 10-year leases and applied for a 99-year lease, to effectively privatise the site under the ACT's leasehold system, in 1998. Following a decade of negotiations and a further payment, the ACT issued Glencora a 99-year lease in 2008, backdated to 1999.
Planning laws changed in 2023 require Geocon to build a public 25-metre indoor swimming pool as part of its proposed apartment redevelopment on the site of the old Phillip pool.
The developer has approval to build on the site 286 units, a new aquatic facility including a 25-metre pool and cafe, and basement parking in the first stage of a planned project to construct nearly 700 units on the site.
The planning approval, issued in December 2025, does not cover the areas of the 50-metre pool and ice rink, which would be redeveloped later under Geocon's proposal.
The government in January promised a new, 50-metre outdoor swimming pool in Woden, with the possibility work could begin as soon as 2028, after a vocal and long-running community campaign against the loss of a 50-metre pool in the area.
Ms Berry said the indoor pool and proposed, government-built outdoor pool would be used by very different groups of people.
"The indoor facilities that are being described that Geocon will be building as part of their facility are very much focused on water skills, swimming lesson programming, child play, those kinds of things. And I understand there are a range of other facilities that Geocon will be including as part of those facilities," she said at the time.
"Whether an outdoor facility would be able to create the same kind of income or economic opportunities as an indoor facility, you couldn't count that as being apples and apples."
