Success:

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside, with a splash pad at Gorleston-on-Sea!

Following a procurement process, Great Yarmouth Borough Council awarded the design and build contract to Ustigate in April 2018. The Gorleston Splashpad could not have been installed in a better year with the summer of 2018 being the hottest on record since 1976!

The splash pad consists of 38 products altogether, all programmed to run on a sequence that lasts approximately twenty minutes. During hours of operation, the aquatic play can also be activated by touching a button on the inclusive bollard or by touching a choice of two activation pads on the surface. Upon entry to the area you are greeted by a selection of gentle ground sprays of varying heights that provide a nice placid introduction to the forthcoming activity of getting wet. The cluster of sprays at the start of the course are ideal for small children that are experiencing aquatic play for the first time. Water players that are keen to explore a more adventurous form of aquatic play are encouraged to venture further into the area where they will find spinning and splashing galore! The whole of the design lends itself to an ocean theme to entice children’s imagination and to further compliment the location of this wet play facility. There are several tipping buckets and a moored boat with a spinning and splashing sail in the centre of the splash pad, armed with a choice of cannons to fire in all directions – This being very important as you don’t know when and where those pirates are going to pop up next!! At the far end of the splash pad there is an interactive Butterfly, Crab and a Fish waiting to play, all three have a number of nozzles that children can manipulate to create bigger splashes, and whilst these animals are adamantly happy to stay in the same spot they were installed, children love nothing more than taking them for a spin via their rotating mechanism and/or climbing on top for an imaginative ride!

Shortly after the cutting of the ribbon by mayor Cllr Mary Coleman and a short speech by council leader Cllr Graham Plant, a group of local children were invited to enter and have fun. A six year old boy said the spinning and splashing sail was his favourite as it enabled him to combine his strength and fire power to drench his friends. The young boy’s grandmother described the splash pad as “brilliant” as it provided gaming-mad youngsters with a break from their screens, as well as enabling them to make new friends and play together in a safe place where they can be seen.

Cllr Graham Plant, the council leader, said “Judging from the excitement on social media, the opening of the splash pad has been hotly anticipated – and it’s very timely as it will certainly help our youngest residents and visitors keep their cool during the heatwave.”

Pack a picnic, buckets, spades, swimming costumes, towels and be prepared to board Gorleston Splashpad, your ultimate, sea-side treat!