Friends of Manuka Pool was formed in 2016 in response to emerging threats to the history and amenity of the pool and its surrounds.

Why we formed

Many Canberrans were shocked to open their newspapers in February 2016 to see that a massive development was in the pipeline for Manuka Oval. Greater Western Sydney Giants had teamed up with Melbourne developer Grocon to submit an “unsolicited bid” to the ACT government that would include upgrades to the Oval paid for by encircling it with 1,000 apartments plus offices, retail space and a hotel. The apartments would be stacked 7‐storeys, or even 9‐storeys high, completely dominating the entire Manuka area.

It was not an April Fool’s day trick played by the Canberra Times, although the enormous scale of the proposed development was grounds for thinking it might be. One of the most alarming aspects of the GWS‐Grocon proposal was their intention to annex 1200 square metres (15%) of the grounds of Manuka Pool. It was a sign of the arrogance of the developers that they believed they could over‐rule the ACT’s heritage laws and grab a large chunk of a Canberra icon to turn into flats. Even without this land grab the construction of 7‐storey apartment blocks looming over the pool and the lawns, where children play and girls sunbake, made some of us think that these guys must come from another planet.

For patrons of the much‐loved pool there were plenty of other reasons to believe that their little oasis of serenity and conviviality would be wrecked by the redevelopment of the precinct. Parking would become much more difficult. Traffic would multiply. Over 4,000 people would be working and living within 200 metres of the pool. And for the 8‐10 year construction period our leisure time would be blighted by noise, fumes, dust and disruption.

Our fears were multiplied when the Kingston‐Barton Residents Group obtained, under FoI laws, a copy of a consultant’s report to the ACT government proposing that Manuka Pool be integrated into an elite sporting complex and that the pool be used by pumped up footballers for training and recovery sessions. In addition to these direct impacts on the pool, all of us are alarmed at the way this monster development would transform Manuka itself, including the ambience of the shops and surrounding streets in this original part of the city.

And so a handful of us came together to form Friends of Manuka Pool with the objective of protecting the pool and its grounds, and the amenity and ambience of the surrounding area, from this invasion by out‐of‐town developers given the nod by the Barr government to annex open public space so they can turn it into a mini‐city marketed as a place where cashed‐up buyers can live, work and play.

Our logo

It is hard to pick one image that represents Manuka Swimming Pool. From the beautiful shells situated on the outside walls as you enter the pool, to the symmetrical bleachers lining the path around the 30 metre long main pool. We settled on an image that is as unique as the pool itself, the beautiful centre piece of the wading pool that was sculpted by Danish artist Otto Stein in 1962. The ‘creature’ has many names, from “Baby Unicorn” to Sammy” and Su from our committee assures us it is definitely a unicorn!