The Karanga Plaza Pool, affectionately known as “Brownie’s Pool” after Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, opened on Friday and is already proving a hit with swimmers young and old taking advantage of the new facilities and clean water.

Brown commissioned the pool to be constructed on the site of the Karanga Plaza tidal steps, already a popular unofficial place for a dip, earlier this year. He asked Eke Panuku, the council development arm, to develop a safer dedicated jumping platform with an additional investment of $500,000, to include a swimming pool and changing facilities.

He also came up with the idea of adding swimming lanes to the pool.

“The idea was to develop a safe, affordable, lightweight structure to test the appeal of lap swimming in the city centre harbour,” Brown explained. “Utilising existing pontoons helped keep the costs down, and it’s a good example of doing things better, faster, and cheaper.”