About us
Since 1983, OTPT (a group of 6 volunteers) has managed the pool. The six 2025 Trustees are: John Bezett, Barb Anderson, Katrina Bryant, Ted Daniels, Barb Gee and Ruth Thomson.
Our 2025/26 goals:
- Develop a new Business Plan with OCTA to present to Health NZ Te Whatu Ora
- Secure at least a 10 year lease with Health NZ for tenure security, to enable fundraising
- Launch community fundraising for capital and operating costs
- Reopen under a compliance-only model initially
- Plan future refurbishment upgrades: seismic strengthening, efficient and independent heating system, improve heat retention, ventilation, insulation and accessibility, whilst preserving the many significant heritage features.
- Collaborate with Health NZ, DCC, University of Otago, and other NZ health organisations
Physio Pool Feasibility Study (2024) supports reopening under a compliance-only model.
John Bezett
John Bezett, a retired businessman and former chairman of the NZ Masters Games. As a 16-year-old injured rugby player, I had my first experience as a pool patient and have been a regular swimmer for many years, maintaining a level of fitness that has sustained me in Masters sports competitions. I witnessed the benefits of aquatic recreation and rehabilitation that this wonderful facility provided for patients from throughout our Southern Health region.
The University of Otago School of Physiotherapy is an internationally recognised physiotherapy teaching institution, so it is of genuine concern that our physiotherapy students are missing out on an important component of training. The rewards of hydrotherapy are well documented. Having arguably the best hydrotherapy pool in NZ available is a huge benefit. It enables individual users to manage their rehabilitation, have physiotherapy treatment as requested by specialists, and provides graduating physiotherapists with the highest level of training.
As a Dunedin City Councillor, I was Chairman of the Council committee overseeing the redevelopment of St Clair’s Hot Salt Water Pool. It was the most rewarding project I was associated with. I believe that by harnessing the strong community support, commitment and resolve, the upgrade of the Physio Pool will be similarly rewarding.
Barb Anderson
Barb is an Otago-trained Physiotherapist who, with her husband, Geoff Anderson, worked in Dunedin at their former practice, Caversham Physiotherapy, at Mercy Hospital with cardiac surgery patients, and then in Te Whatu Ora HNZ’s Community Team. She has witnessed the significant impact of our wonderful Physio Pool being unavailable to many patients and the community at large, and has been keen to assist in reinstating it for rehabilitation and community use. Up to 80,000 visits occurred annually in the past. The lack of this facility is also a massive loss for physiotherapy students.
Barb feels strongly that this beautiful purpose-built heritage pool, located next to the current Physio Outpatients Department in the Fraser Building and within close range of the new Dunedin Hospital, is a resource we must retain for rehabilitating the many patients whose injuries make land-based therapy challenging. In 2016, soon after her Pool Dance fundraiser raised almost $30,000 from generous attendees and raffles, she had a ski binding break, fracturing both legs. She then experienced firsthand the benefit of this warm 35 °C temperature pool to assist her in rebuilding flexibility and strength, while minimising her pain. Refurbishing this pool would be cost-effective, and patients need it!
Katrina Pōtiki Bryant
Katrina Pōtiki Bryant (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Kāi Tahu) hails from Ōtepoti, Dunedin, with whakapapa links to Ōtākou and Maitapapa. Her passion for hydrotherapy and pools stems from her background as a competitive National Springboard diver, spending much of her youth in pools, training, competing, and coaching. This led to her pursuing a career in physiotherapy with a love of movement and biomechanics. Her first physiotherapy job was with the Vera Haywood clinic, working with children aged 0-2 and taking hydrotherapy classes in the Dunedin physiotherapy pool. She went to work as a physiotherapist in the USA and incorporated hydrotherapy within her physiotherapy practice in New York.
Katrina understands the value of hydrotherapy and is a huge advocate within the University of Otago School of Physiotherapy, where she has been employed for 16 years, and is currently a senior lecturer and Associate Dean Māori. She is extremely disappointed that the physiotherapy students have not had any clinical experience in hydrotherapy since the physiotherapy pool has been closed in Dunedin- this is a huge travesty and puts the Otago training behind other courses in the offerings for students, especially as this formed a large part of the origins of the profession.
Barb Gee
Mum, family carer for 27 years to her two sons, who have both lived with very high and complex needs. An advocate for disability, accessibility and inclusion, especially those who are unable to speak for themselves. A former Mental Health Nurse and competitive swimmer, with a lifelong love of swimming.
Barb and her boys attended the Vera Hayward Child Development Centre Swimming Group, which ran out of the Otago Therapeutic pool, for 7 years. Then she went on to co-facilitate this Group for a further 10 years. She experienced firsthand what a wonderful therapeutic environment the Physio Pool was. A place where children can develop movement and water confidence skills while having fun and making lifelong friends.
Parents networking with other parents. Magic.
The benefits of having this therapeutic pool space, which everyone can access, no matter how great their needs, so close to the hospital, are a resource Dunedin simply cannot afford to lose.
Ted Daniels
I’m proud to be part of the effort to reinstate the Dunedin Physiotherapy Pool, an important community asset with a long history of supporting health, recovery, and wellbeing in our city.
As a long-time Dunedin resident, I’ve spent many years restoring and repurposing some of the city’s heritage buildings. My projects include the Standard Building on Princes Street and Bracken Court on Moray Place. My approach has always been to combine practical, modern use with a deep respect for the character and craftsmanship of our built heritage.
The Physiotherapy Pool is a unique, purpose-built facility that reflects both Dunedin’s architectural legacy and its long-standing commitment to public health. I am well aware of the vital role it has played in our community for decades, and I’m committed to helping ensure its return to full operation.
Over the years, I’ve been a vocal advocate for preserving Dunedin’s historic buildings and streetscapes. I believe our heritage is a defining part of the city’s identity—and that with thoughtful planning and investment, these assets can continue to serve and inspire future generations.
Whether through restoration work or my role on the pool Trust, my goal is to ensure that Dunedin’s history is not only preserved but also adapted and revitalised to remain relevant and valuable in the years ahead.
Ruth
Our family has benefitted so much in the past from using the Physio Pool – from each of our three children experiencing a swimming pool for the first time to one daughter finding the lovely warm water so beneficial when she hurt her back in an accident at primary school. This great facility must be saved and brought back to being usable once again!
I was born and raised in Dunedin and have lived here all my life. I have worked as an accountant, previously in public practice and in more recent times as the accountant for a multi-store private company whose head office is here in Dunedin. I am keen to use my skills to help the trust on its way to achieving the goal of bringing the Physio Pool back to life again!
