Brown Hill splash park opens for summer

AFTER being delayed by a year, the free Brown Hill splash park has opened just in time for summer.

The site was opened last Friday 5 December and stands on the place of the old Brown Hill pool, which was closed due to refurbishment costs, a reported lack of attendance, and the site’s deterioration.

The park includes interactive water jets, tipping buckets and ground sprays, and is themed around gold mining.

The water elements work with a button-operated system on a 15-minute timer.

“It is so fantastic to be here today, to mark this momentous milestone as part of the Brown Hill Recreation Reserve master plan,” City of Ballarat mayor Cr Tracey Hargreaves said.

“The splash park was identified as the initial priority item.”

The park was expected to open last summer, but it was delayed due to contaminated soil in the area, the need to adequately compact soil when backfilling the old pool site, and re-engineering the design of the slab.

The project was funded with $1.99 million from the City and $1 million from the State Government.

The municipality also worked closely with the Brown Hill Progress Association.

“This is a fantastic community space, ready to go for its first summer,” association secretary Brendan Stephens said.

“There was some doubts last year that the pile of dirt behind me known as Mount Humffray would ever become a useful recreation space, but it has.”

The Brown Hill splash park is open every day from 9am until 9pm, apart from Christmas Day.