The opening of the new Splash Park at Coate Water has been welcomed by the Conservative councillor who took the initial decision to kick the project off.

Councillor Matthy Courtliff was the cabinet member responsible for leisure in the Conservative administration from May 2022 until May 2023.

 He said: “ I am thrilled to see the Splash Park finally open.

As the previous cabinet member, I oversaw the awarding of £2m from the government’s Shared Prosperity Fund to support multiple leisure projects being delivered in our borough, with £250,000 of this levelling up money being allocated to the new Splash Park at Coate Water.

“A big thanks goes to our previous South Swindon MP Sir Robert Buckland who lobbied hard on our behalf to ensure we received the funding.

 With the opening of the pitch and putt and the fully accessible play park, I hope that residents will agree that after years of planning, designing and building, we now have a fantastic country park that can be enjoyed by many more generations to come.”

Councillor Dan Adams added: “It is great that minimal Swindon taxpayers' money was used to regenerate this wonderful facility and I hope the borough’s children, mine included, have many more fun-filled summers enjoying the fully accessible water play area.

The Splash Park opened last week after several years where the older facility struggled, often having to be closed for long periods of time for repairs.