The members of a Dunedin City Council working party have been scrutinising Dunedin's aquatic facilities since the middle of last year, as well as possible sites for new facilities needed over the next 50 years.
Their work began after a report by consultants SGL Group New Zealand - prompted by public feedback about existing facilities - last year identified problems with overcrowding and recommended new investment in city facilities.
The working party's report to councillors had been expected by August last year, but was delayed initially as working party members began a fact-finding tour of city facilities.
Working party chairman Cr Colin Weatherall said this week he expected a report identifying top-priority projects to be presented to councillors by July.
The working party was looking to settle on "three of four key components" for future swimming facilities, although any projects would require consultation and were unlikely to be included in annual plans for several years, he said.
In the mix of projects being considered was a possible upgrade of Moana Pool, to increase the capacity of swimming and leisure facilities at the complex, he said.
However, members of the Mosgiel community had also been calling for a new pool, and consideration was also being given to a pool built in conjunction with the Forsyth Barr Stadium, he said.
"We're going through the evaluation stages of all the options in front of us, and we'll be reporting to council in June or July.
"We've made ourselves pretty aware of what's around ... It's all in a big pot at the moment, melting down towards a recommendation or two recommendations to go to the council in due course," Cr Weatherall said.
No decisions had yet been made, but preferred projects would need to be prioritised to fit within future council budgets because of "the way the [financial] environment is", he said.
A shortlist of top-priority options could be finalised within weeks, and the next step would be to prepare early indicative costings, he said.
