Summer is going to be cooler in Horowhenua with a new splash pad being built at Jubilee Park, Levin (affectionately known as ‘The Donald Duck Park’).

Construction of the new community asset will begin on Wednesday 21 September and will be ready for public use by this summer, weather permitting.

We consulted with our community in 2020, through the draft Long Term Plan 2021-2041 process, on the installation of a new aquatic feature in Horowhenua as the existing paddling pool at Jubilee Park was ageing. This idea was met with great enthusiasm, and Council allocated funding in our Long Term Plan 2021-2041 to develop a splash pad and new amenity block for our tamariki and whānau to enjoy. We engaged with local rangatahi to work alongside our contractors for the final splash pad design.

Horowhenua District Council's Chief Executive Monique Davidson says, “We are excited to introduce this fun and modern water play facility for our community and visitors to the district. It will provide hours of fun for whānau alongside the existing play equipment and BBQ at Jubilee Park.”

A new amenity block will be established alongside the splash pad, featuring two family changing rooms with baby changing tables, two fully accessible unisex toilets and a plant room for the operation of the splash pad. The amenity block will replace the existing toilet block which is no longer up to standard and has reached the end of its life.

The existing paddling pool at Jubilee Park has also reached its use-by date and is to be decommissioned. Built in 1988, the pool had been an iconic feature of the park and has been popular with toddlers and small children, but posed a safety risk; irregular use and distance from the Levin Aquatic Centre has meant that it’s not practical to have a permanent lifeguard stationed at the site.

Council recognises the value of providing our community a free, modern water play facility to meet the needs of a wider range of tamariki. A popular water play feature across Aotearoa, splash pads are ‘zero depth’ fun, which can shower, spray, mist and shoot streams of water at users. They are designed on a hard, flat surface. As the water splashes onto this surface, it is collected, filtered, sanitised and re-circulated to keep the water fun flowing in an eco-friendly way. Replacing the paddling pool with a splash pad will mean that there will still be a water play facility freely available to our community which will be suitable for children of all abilities.

The construction process will include -

- Development of related foundations for the splash pad and the amenity block

- Establishment of connection to existing infrastructure such as power, water and wastewater

- Development of new access ways

- Adding seating and planting to supplement the splash pad.

Mindful of park users and neighbours, we want to keep disruptions to a minimum so have chosen prefabricated units to allow for a short construction time. Our contractors will be onsite from 7.30am to 5pm on weekdays and the work should be completed within two months, depending on the weather.

© Scoop Media