THE splashpad in King George V playing field will open tomorrow, Saturday 21st August, for the first time this year.
The waterplay facility, which opened last year, will be open daily from 10am to 4pm until the end of September.
As part of measures to keep the area ‘Covid-secure’, the maximum number of children allowed into the splashpad area will be limited to 10 – and this will be managed by town council staff, with the occasional support, when needed, of town councillors.
A spokesperson for the council said, “Melksham Town Council is thrilled to be opening one of our town’s most loved public amenities this weekend.
“This is the culmination of a great deal of work across our teams. Commissioning the splashpad each season involves a lot of preliminary work including pre-opening maintenance, water testing and balancing – essential features of a safe operation. When you overlay this with the added complexity this year of ensuring the facility operates in a Covid-19 secure manner, it becomes easy to understand why relatively few splashpad facilities of this particular type have opened up across the country this year.
“As last year, it is important that all children visiting the splashpad facility, are accompanied by parents or guardians at all times as our staff and councillors are there to help operate the facility and not to supervise the children.
“Melksham’s splashpad will be operating a little differently this year to ensure that risks associated with Covid-19 are mitigated. We will be asking our splashpad visitors to wear a coloured wristband. Groups of children will be allowed into the facility for fifteen-minute slots at a time.
“When leaving the splashpad, wristbands will be returned and sanitised, and the next group will go in, wearing a different wristband colour. This is to ensure there is enough space to play safely on the pad, but also to make sure everyone gets a turn. Of course, children exiting the splashpad are then welcome re-join the queue for another go!
“Track and trace forms will be provided for parents and guardians to complete, a one-way system for the toilets has been devised and we will be providing additional members of staff at the splashpad to help keep things safe and running smoothly. Waterproof nappies, if required, will be provided free of charge.
“The splashpad will be run by members of our Town Hall office, Assembly Hall and amenity teams. Where we require additional help, this will be volunteered by Melksham Town Councillors.”
The reopening was given the go-ahead at last night’s extraordinary meeting of the full Melksham Town Council. Cllr Terri Welch praised the work of town council staff for making the reopening possible and said that she hoped that it would give the town’s young people a ‘month of fun’.
