New £15,000 water supply planned for Newbury's Victoria Park
Upgrade will tackle pressure problems
NEWBURY Town Council has agreed to splash out on a new £15,000 water supply into Victoria Park.
The decision comes just weeks after the popular new Splash Park was declared open but which has since suffered issues with the water pressure.
As well as providing a reliable supply of mains water to the kiosk and Splash Park, the town council says that the new supply is needed to cope with additional demands from the park’s facilities in the future, with plans for a new café, which will also include public toilets.
The service will also feed into a new sports changing room facility adjacent to the tennis courts which will contain home and away team showers and referee showers and toilets, which the council intends to build “when funds allow”.
The new supply will be paid for via Section 106 developer contributions which the council says are already in place.
According to services manager Granville Taylor, the existing service in Victoria Park is old and has been subject to water leaks over the past few years.
The supply through the park has also been experiencing problems with low and fluctuating water pressure over the past few years. Mr Taylor put two options to councillors with the other, more expensive, one costing £18,000.
As a result, councillors approved the plans for £15,000 at a meeting of the policy and resources committee on Monday evening.
The decision will see the council pay £4,500 for a new supply from a pipe in St Marys Road, £8,000 in connection costs and a new Thames Water meter, and £2,500 in contractor connection costs.
In his recommendation to the committee, Mr Taylor said: “It is essential that we ensure continuity of a sound and adequate water supply to the park, supplying the kiosk and Splash Park and, in the not too distant future, the new café and sport changing room’s facilities. The new plastic pipework will last at least 80 years without needing attention.”
Proposing that the recommendation be accepted, Elizabeth O’Keefe said: “This has been a long time coming. It certainly needs to be sorted out.
“I understand it will cover all needs in Victoria Park.
“It may look like quite large amount of money, but there’s a lot of work going into this.”
The Splash Park opened in May and has proved a popular attraction with the town’s youngsters.
However, the problems with the water pressure has meant the park’s water jets and fountains are roughly half the size of what was expected.
