Mornington Peninsula Shire’s recently named Yawa Aquatic Centre - the new $47.5 million community facility located in Rosebud and managed by Belgravia Leisure – will offer vital community health and wellness facilities and services.
“Yawa” which means “swim”, or “to swim”, is the local indigenous word endorsed by the Bunurong/Boon Wurrung Traditional Owners, which draws on a local language that reflects over 40,000 years of history.
In their official announcement on naming the Rosebud facility, Mornington Peninsula Shire advised “it is a simple and unique name which represents the purpose of the venue and will create a connection with the Peninsula community through place and environment with an approachable, welcoming and positive feel”.
The name Yawa was selected from a shortlist of five names and gained the most preferential votes from over 5000 surveys submitted by the community.
With an expected 400,000 visits per year, Yawa Aquatic Centre will offer the local community and surrounding areas an indoor 50-metre swimming pool, Learn to Swim pool, indoor water play area, warm water pool, steam room, spa and sauna.
Yawa Aquatic Centre will also offer a 720 metre2 health club, spin room, group fitness studio, Pilates/yoga studio and designated reformer Pilates studio. Facilities at the Centre will also offer the community a destination Café and Allied Health suites.
Belgravia Leisure was awarded the management contract for the Yawa in late November 2019, and are working in collaboration with the Mornington Peninsula Shire to prepare the Centre opening and to drive excitement among the community throughout the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis.
Belgravia Leisure Chief Executive, Nick Cox notes “we are pleased to see the continuation of such vital community facilities and services during these times and look forward to the incredible community health outcomes that will be created from the opening of Yawa.
“Our dedicated teams are currently working closely with the Shire and in consultation with the community, to ensure the services and programming meets the needs of all community members.”
Newly appointed Yawa Aquatic Centre Manager, Dan Andrews enthused “we’re incredibly excited to be working behind the scenes, with key stakeholder and the community to get Yawa ready for the opening.” Andrews has many years of experience in the aquatic industry, within both private fitness clubs and council run aquatic and leisure centres.
Andrews adds “our services and programs survey that we conducted recently, has given us fantastic insight into the community’s programming preferences in-Centre. The survey which received over 700 responses will help us plan our programming around the needs of the community.”
Belgravia Leisure also manages five other Mornington Peninsula Leisure Centres on behalf of Mornington Peninsula Shire, Pelican Park Recreation Centre, the newly developed Somerville Recreation Centre, Civic Reserve Recreation Centre, Hastings Hub and Crib Point Outdoor Pool.
Belgravia Leisure, Area Manager Ben Walker highlights that “Yawa is such a significant facility. It will enable us to provide community-wide health and wellbeing solutions, that will allow anyone across the Mornington Peninsula to get active. We are also very excited to have Dan Andrews on board as our new Centre Manager.”
Cox concluded “as we look ahead, it's pleasing to know that we have an excellent team who are dedicated to working with the Shire and the community to ensure our staff and communities are safe, healthy and are actively engaged in our facility programs and services.”
Article courtesy of Australasian Leisure Management
Comments