No fix yet for PARC plumbing problem Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au A PLUMBING problem continues to plague the two main swimming pools at the Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre. The PARC’s main 50-metre pool, aquatic playground and a learn-toswim pool have been closed for more than a month after a plumbing system malfunction. Leisure centre management initially predicted the pools would reopen by 27 October but the plumbing problem seems to be more complex than first thought. “Following a critical failure of the complex plumbing infrastructure within the 50m pool balance tank at PARC, specialist independent consultants have been engaged to assess the cause and to redesign the infrastructure to ensure such an issue does not occur again,” Peninsula Leisure CEO Tim Gledhill said last week. “Peninsula Leisure is working closely with Frankston City Council on this matter. We are currently waiting to receive the final assessment report before repair works can commence. “Until the report is received and the substantial works commence, we are unable to confirm when we will reopen.” The gym, wellness centre and other fitness operations remain open to the public. Peninsula Leisure Pty Ltd was established in 2012 and is wholly owned by Frankston Council.
Swimming cancelled: A plumbing malfunction means pools at the Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre are closed. Picture: Gary Sissons
The company manages and operates the PARC and the Pines Forest Aquatic Centre in Frankston North. Councillors voted to reappoint Peninsula Leisure chair Roseanne Healy and board member Phillip Johnson, also the chief financial officer of South East Water, last month until October 2020.
Five Peninsula Leisure board members are collectively paid about $116,000 a year. PARC won the statewide Aquatic Recreation Victoria Facility Management Award last year. Council statistics show about 850,000 people visit the sports, swimming and recreation centre each year.
Councillors voted in May to stop Peninsula Leisure “tendering for projects outside of their core obligation, that being the management of PARC and the Pines pool”. It emerged that Peninsula Leisure had talks with Mornington Peninsula Shire council about possibly managing peninsula sports centres.
The shire announced in August that the management of five of its leisure centres has been outsourced to private operator Belgravia Leisure from 29 October. Mr Gledhill said Peninsula Leisure will keep PARC members up to date with the progress of the plumbling solution.
A Mighty Show Glenn A Baker
Bob Dylan revisited: Jeff Jenkins leads a four-piece peace band through the songbook of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Picture: Supplied
Life and times of legendary Bob Dylan AN uncanny likeness of His Bobness is heading down the highway to visit Kingston as part of a state tour celebrating the life, times and music of Bob Dylan. DYLANesque — The Bob Dylan Story will hit the stage at Kingston Arts Centre on Friday 24 November featuring singer and musician Jeff Jenkins taking audiences through the times that are a-changin’ in a two-hour narrated concert. The tribute show charts the humble beginnings of Dylan’s career, his pivotal relationships and break-ups, his trailblazing songs of the 1960s and 1970s and their continuing influence on popular music and culture. “I read everything I could get my hands on about Dylan and worked all the fascinating stories into a show that would make a great night of rock ‘n’ roll,” Jenkins said. “Dylan is an intriguing subject because of his constant evolution as an artist, immense catalogue of work and his personality. “He’s a man who will always march to the beat of his own drum.” Jenkins opens the show with the extraordinary
tale from 1961, when an intrepid teenager hitch-hiked his way from Duluth Minnesota to New York City with only a guitar and $10 in his pocket, busking to make a living. This same young man would go on to become one of the most successful and revered songwriters of all time. Dylan classics including Blowin’ in the Wind, Lay Lady Lay, Like a Rolling Stone, All Along the Watchtower and A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall will be performed by Jenkins backed by four musicians. Renowned music critic Glenn A. Baker described the DYLANesque show as “one of the most engaging and enjoyable couple of hours I’ve spent in ages”. “Jeff Jenkins not only sounds like His Bobness, but he understands him, even inhabits him.” n DYLANesque — The Bob Dylan Story will be performed at Kingston Arts Centre, 979 Nepean Highway, Moorabbin on Friday 24 November, 8pm.Tickets $35, concession $30, groups of more than six $25 at kingstonarts.com.au/music/ dylanesque or by calling 9556 4440.
FRI 24 NOVEMBER KINGSTON CITY HALL
979-985 NEPEAN HWY, MOORABBIN | TICKETS: dylanesque.com.au SHOW STARTS 8.00PM | $35 GENERAL ADMISSION
Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News 15 November 2017
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