The Mount Hot Pools reopen today at 4pm, just hours after it was made public that Tauranga City Council will stop all spending on the pools' planned redevelopment.

The decision was made during the confidential section of Monday's Tauranga City Council meeting, and made public today.

Tauranga City Councillor Catherine Stewart says the council is not going to spend any money on a hot pools upgrade.

'I pushed hard for it to be out of confidential – there is nothing in there for it to be in confidential,” says Councillor Catherine Stewart, who opposes the redevelopment plans. 'The CEO just advised that it can come out of confidential now.”

The council resolved to cease all expenditure on the redevelopment project except for emergency and associate practical renewal work, with Catherine and Murray Guy adding a clause to include a retrofitting of disability access if practicable.

'I think that is a key thing that should have been done years ago, given that it is used mainly as a passive pool,” says Catherine.

The council controlled organisation that administers the city pools, Tauranga City Aquatics Ltd, has advised the Environment Court they are stopping the appeal.

TCAL was appealing the Hearings Commissioner's denial of resource consent for the expansion project.

'The next thing will be for the council to find out just how much money has been spent on lawyers, consultants, architects and all the rest of it,” says Catherine.

'That was a loan to TCAL for the redevelopment, so that will now be a ratepayer cost.

'I believe they have spent millions over the last few years. There should be some accountability somewhere.”

During the 11 year hot pools redevelopment saga, Catherine says she was never shown any detailed research or a proper business case supporting the redevelopment.

All she ever saw was a spreadsheet she believes is based on Hanmer Springs or the Polynesians Pools in Rotorua.

'You need more robustness than that when you are doing a project of such magnitude and cost,” says Catherine.

'If it was a viable business proposition then private enterprises would have approached council.”