THE borough council has said that Basingstoke’s splash pad will not be open this weekend as it does not have ‘satisfactory water quality results’.

As previously reported, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council announced that the splash pad, at Chineham Park, in Popley, would reopen on Friday, April 28 after being shut for the winter.

But less than three weeks later the council announced that it had to close the facility for ‘essential maintenance’, just as the weather started to warm up.

READ MORE: Borough council hopes to reopen Basingstoke splash pad for half-term

Now, the council has announced that it will not be open this weekend as the country enjoys a spell of warmer weather. 

It said: “We are very disappointed that the splash pad is not able to reopen for this weekend and that it has been closed during the half-term break.

Council leader Cllr Paul Harvey said: “We are very disappointed that the splash pad is not able to reopen for this weekend and that it has been closed during the half-term break.

“We still do not have satisfactory water quality results that will allow us to be reassured that it can open safely.

SEE ALSO: Basingstoke Comic Con confirms it is returning in 2024

“The welfare of the children using this play facility has to be our top priority. But we understand that this will be very frustrating for the families hoping to enjoy it, especially during the warmer weather.

“The council is working to get the splash pad open as quickly as possible. But this cannot keep happening and we are determined that a solution must be found to prevent the problems with water quality repeating in the future. This popular play facility must be reliable and safe.”

The council has said that to try and ensure that these ad-hoc closures do not happen in future it is looking at alternative cleaning methods and investigating a more robust maintenance regime for the equipment as a whole and an additional system to continuously maintain water quality.