THE Splashpad may open in Melksham’s King George V Park for the Easter holidays if the temperature is warm enough; it will then close and re-open in the May half-term until September.
At the asset management and amenities meeting on Monday 5th February, councillors agreed to open the Splashpad for the Easter holidays that run from 31st March until 15th April. They also agreed to open the facility at the new later time of 11am rather than 10am and to close at 6pm, rather than 5pm.
However, councillors decided on a temperature-led approach to opening the Splashpad, rather than date-led, due to the risks to equipment and health of using the Splashpad when it is cold.
Melksham mayor cllr Simon Crundell said, “You get some unexpectedly really nice days in early spring where it would be nice if we said if the day’s temperature goes above 12 degrees, we will open it, but ultimately if you’ve got a Splashpad open at 10 [degrees] or below, you’re probably going to have some health implications there.”
Highlighting the need to communicate with the public about the temperature and when the facility would open, cllr Jon Hubbard said, “We could put some signage up that says ‘this cannot be operated’ if the temperature is below x degrees. We need to get better at making the public aware; it won’t be open if it’s raining and it won’t be open if it’s below x degrees because it will break the equipment.”
Opening the Splashpad for the Easter holidays was questioned by cllr Jack Oatley, as a week before its potential opening, weather-permitting works are scheduled to resurface the facility with a new safety floor, costing £18,000.
Cllr Jon Hubbard echoed cllr Oatley’s question and said, “I am concerned about this timeline. If we end up with a bright and sunny Monday and then it rains for the rest of the week, then we are not going to be in a position to open the following week, are we?
After the meeting, the town council’s head of amenities, Dave Elms, told Melksham News, “If the weather holds back on the flooring, we will open with the concrete flooring for the Easter holidays and look to do the flooring work in the term time and reopen once complete.”
The head of amenities will now source data about the temperature at which the Splashpad equipment can operate at and report back to the next town council asset management and amenities meeting in April, for councillors to make a decision.
