Park splashpad to open soon?

THE splashpad in King George V playing field could be open in the ‘next few days’.

The waterplay facility, which opened last year, has yet to open this year despite outdoor play areas and swimming pools being given the go-ahead to reopen by the government in July.  Its continued closure attracted questions and criticism from the public earlier this month as temperatures soared to record temperatures.

However, the town council said that it is working hard to get the facility open as soon as possible, and as safely as possible to ensure that it is ‘Covid-secure’ for its users.

A spokesperson for Melksham Town Council said, “Melksham Town Council staff are working tirelessly to get the splashpad in the town’s King George V Park open for our young people. 

“Commissioning the splashpad each season involves a lot of preliminary work including pre-opening maintenance, water testing and balancing, but this is an essential feature of a safe operation.  

“Overlay this with the added complexity this year of ensuring the facility operates in a Covid-19 secure manner and it becomes easy to understand why relatively few splashpad facilities of this particular type have opened up across the country this year.

“However, our final water test samples are in the laboratory right now and we hope for the green light from the laboratory results in order to allow us to open the splashpad in the next few days.

“We understand the frustration that users of this popular facility must be feeling, especially with the recent hot weather, but we also have a duty of care to ensure the safety of our users.”