Vandals strike at new park splashpad

MELKSHAM Town Council is tightening up security at the new splashpad in King George V playing field after vandals caused damage to the facility last week.

Just days after the grand opening of the new waterplay facility, on the morning of Wednesday 7th August, town council staff discovered that vandals had removed screws from the water canon guns, damaged a handrail outside the pavilion and broken concrete slabs around the flowerbed next to the splashpad. 

To combat the problem, the town council has ‘commissioned’ CCTV for the pavilion, and will continue with random patrols by council groundsmen, outside of opening hours.

However, vandalism has been an ongoing issue at the pavilion in King George V playing field. In response to concerns and complaints, including one from the Melksham parkrun team about littering, the town council agreed in August last year to install four CCTV cameras,  placed on each corner of the  pavilion, at an estimated cost of £995. It was reported that footage would be accessed remotely via the internet and would be monitored by volunteers who support Melksham’s CCTV service in the town centre.

When asked by Melksham News about the recent vandalism, and why the decision to install CCTV last year had not been actioned in time for the opening of the new splashpad, clerk for the town council, Linda Roberts said, “The issues discovered at the splashpad this morning (Wednesday 7th August) were very minor, with some related to a couple of snagging issues. These have now been rectified by our contractors, no equipment was damaged. CCTV is installed, it just hadn’t been commissioned, it has now. Town council groundsmen are on site for 12 hours each day and do conduct random patrols during down time as an extra security measure.”