Councillor 'thrilled' at opening of Coate Water Splash Park

Matthy Courtliff says he's 'thrilled' to see it finally come back to life after several years where the older facility was often closed for repair

Coate Water Splash Park
Author: Aled Thomas, LDRS Reporter & Oliver MorganPublished 20th Aug 2024

Now the state-of-the-art Splash Park at Coate Water has officially opened - the Conservative Councillor who kicked it all off says he's 'thrilled'.

Matty Courtliff was the Cabinet Member responsible for leisure in the Conservative administration between 2022 and 2023.

A quarter of a million pounds worth of levelling-up funding was allocated to make it a reality.

Matty Courtliff - at the Splash Park

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.

Councillor Marina Strinkovsky, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Placemaking, said: “I’m delighted that the splash park is completed and ready to open. I can’t wait to see it being enjoyed by families from across the Borough.

“The new splash park, along with the reopening of the golf, is a key part of building a better and greener Swindon.

“We want Coate Water to be a place that generations can enjoy for years to come, and making these improvements now is a big step towards that.”

Read more: Coate Water Splash Park officially reopens

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.