24 July 2026
The defect rectification programme for both the St Nicholas Park and Victoria Park pools is scheduled to be completed by the end of July, and the Council has been pushing the contractor hard to bring this date forward.
We had hoped that St Nicholas Park Paddling Pool would open to the public today in time for the weekend. Unfortunately we are unable to do this, as the facility has not been legally handed over to the Council by the contractor with the required certification.
The Council has been assured by the contractor that final checks and handover will now take place on Monday 27 July with Victoria Park to follow on Wednesday 29 July.
Whilst the St Nicholas Park paddling pool site might look open, it legally remains a construction site and must not be entered by members of the public until it is officially opened and the gates are unlocked.
23 July 2026
Just one more safety to check to go and then all being well, the pool at St Nicholas Park will be open by this weekend. The Victoria Park announcement will follow next week.
17 July 2026
We’re nearly there!
Final works and safety checks are being completed at St Nicholas Park paddling pool this weekend and we will be announcing the opening date early next week, with Victoria Park to follow soon afterwards.
10 July 2026
Work has progressed this week on the paddling pools, with repair work being carried out on the ramp in the Victoria Park pool.
We've also been testing the water features at both parks.
Next week and with weather permitting, we will be installing new wetpour surfacing around the edges of each pool. This is a rubber material that you normally find around play equipment in play areas. To do this it needs to be dry, but we're hopeful that this will be able to go ahead and get us closer to opening the pools.
3 July 2026
The wetpour areas that failed are now being removed and holes used for the concrete moisture testing are now being filled in so the wetpour work can take place.
The glass reinforced plastic (wetpour material) can’t be laid on damp concrete and the initial moisture test failure at Victoria Park caused a slight delay, which might mean Victoria Park opens slightly after St Nicholas Park.
Final works to the plantrooms are also scheduled to happen within the next couple of weeks.
The exact opening dates will be announced in the next couple of weeks and we’re still on course to have the first paddling pool open towards the end of month, with Victoria Park following very shortly afterwards.
Of course there is the caveat that weather can still cause a delay to the opening. Rest assured that the project team is as keen to get the pools open as everyone else.
June 2026
The Council has now reached an agreement with the contractors to commence the rectification programme on both paddling pools.
This has taken longer than we would have liked, but it was important to follow the formal contractual process to hold the contractors to account. It would not have been acceptable to agree on a rectification programme that was not robust, risking the need to close the pools again.
Work on both sites will commence imminently. Please note that some of the work needs dry weather, so at the moment we are not able to announce the exact opening dates, but we will do this nearer completion.
We will be putting up visitor notices on the temporary fencing around both pools. These will have a QR code which will take visitors to this page which will be kept updated.