Built by locals.
Loved by generations.
Seventy years of community, connection and summer memories, and a community that has twice now decided this pool was worth building.
How We Got Here
Eighty years of the Cust pool
Fundraising Begins
Wally Allen chairs the Bath Committee. The community starts raising money to build a pool for the district.
Pool Opens
The pool is officially opened on 3rd December by the Hon. WH Gillespie MP, after ten years of volunteer effort. The concrete was hand-mixed, the labour donated, and local builder Leo Thomson supervised free of charge.
Decades of Summer
The Cust Amateur Swimming Club is formed. Generations of kids learn to swim, carnivals are held against North Canterbury clubs, and the pool becomes a cornerstone of community life.
Solar Heating Installed
A big community fundraising effort puts solar panels on the pool in March 2022. Temperatures reach 24–32 degrees and every key sells out.
The Leak, and Every Patch We Tried
A long-running leak is traced right to the bottom of the shell. Epoxy injection, resin coating and fibreglass patching each buy a bit of time, but none of them hold.
The Reline Is Agreed
Working with the Waimakariri District Council and leak specialists, the committee stops patching and commits to a full fibreglass reline, new pipework and better filtration.
The Community Funds It
Grants, donations, raffles, quiz nights and tea towel sales bring the fund to $92,388 of the $108,000 the work costs.
The Work Starts
Contractors move in to reline the shell, replace the pipework and skimmers, and upgrade the filtration.
Back in the Water
A brand-new surface, water that holds its warmth, and no more litres disappearing into the ground. We're aiming to open Show Weekend in November.
Pool Facts
70
Years serving the community
25m
Pool length
100%
Volunteer run
1000s
Of swimmers each summer
Gallery
Community Voices
“The Cust pool is more than just a place to swim. It's where our kids learned confidence, where neighbours became friends, and where summer memories were made. We can't let it go.
Acknowledgements
The Cust Community Pool exists because of eighty years of volunteer effort. Wally Allen's fundraising committee in 1945, the volunteers who hand-mixed the concrete, and every family that has given time, skills and money to keep it going. The 2026 reline is the same story, one generation on.
Special thanks to Mark Whittaker, Andy Riley, and John Taylor for all they've done for the pool. And to the Waimakariri District Council for their ongoing support and every committee member, past and present, of Cust Community Swimming Pool Inc.
Be Part of the Next Chapter