Councillors this week endorsed an aquatic strategy that included a 50-metre indoor aquatic centre at Kangaroo Flat.

The council will also close the Golden Square, Long Gully and Kangaroo Flat pools and construct a Long Gully aquatic play space after the aquatic centre is built.

Figures from the 2008-09 financial year show the cost per visit to the council at the Kangaroo Flat pool was almost $30.

The Long Gully cost about $17.50 and the Golden Square pool $10.

The Elmore pool offered the best value, $0.53, while the Bendigo Aquatic Centre cost about $2.50.

Councillor James Reade told this week’s meeting Bendigo had the most swimming pools per person in the nation.

“There are 13 swimming pools within our municipality and literally they leak money... the Kangaroo Flat pool, just operating expense alone, is $28 per swim,” Cr Reade said.

“It would be cheaper for me to stand at half our swimming pools in Bendigo, shut the gates and hand out between $10 and $20 for people not to come and swim.

“We have a serious problem around the future liability of our pools, they are ageing infrastructure but we don’t have capital and resources to fully finance a project of a high standard.”

The proposed Kangaroo Flat aquatic centre would cost $28.97 million, which was about $3 million more than the 25-metre option.

The complex will include a raft of services, pools and entertainment.

Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards, whose electorate includes Kangaroo Flat, said the state government would have to fund the project.

She said the state should “dip into (its) billion dollar regional growth slush fund” to take the funding burden off Greater Bendigo ratepayers.

“It is a lot of money, $29 million,” Ms Edwards said. “The ratepayers in Bendigo don’t want to be slugged with huge rates increases because the state didn’t contribute its fair share.”

Nationals MP Damian Drum said he looked forward to working with the council to deliver the project.

He praised the council’s decision to push for a 50-metre pool instead of a 25-metre option.

“A lot still has to be done in areas such as innovation design and sustainability, but I now feel that work has truly begun,” Mr Drum said.