DEPUTY mayor Ian North says a proposed water park at the Adventure Playground will still go ahead despite the project being put on the backburner until at least the next financial year.
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He says council is right to ensure it is going to get value for money from the construction of the water park as it considers its options for the build.
The water park - which was being talked about by councillors as far back as 2010 - got a boost when Bathurst Regional Council received $200,000 from the NSW Government in February this year.
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The grant was for stage two of the Adventure Playground complex at Victoria Park, which Bathurst MP Paul Toole said would include new play structures, equipment and park facilities and a "bespoke" water play feature.
Council's director of engineering services Darren Sturgiss, however, said there were no plans to build the water park at the moment.
"Tenders for the upgrade were sought in 2016, however, council declined to accept any tenders for the second stage of works at the Adventure Playground," he said.
"The decision was taken as a result of the low number of tenders received, and with the proposed costs being significantly higher than anticipated, council has not allocated funding in the current financial year for this project given consideration of other priorities and will consider this project in the preparation of the 20/21 budget process."
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Cr North said there had been "a lot of pressing issues and budget constraints and council has got to do what's right for the community" in explaining the delay to get started on the water park.
But he said council "definitely" wants to have a water park feature at the Adventure Playground.
Cr North said it became clear in building the first stage of the Adventure Playground that more money was needed than was originally anticipated "if we were going to do it properly".
"We had to put away another half a million dollars and we did that," he said.
He said the water park might be on hold for the moment, but we will "come back to it".
The $1 million Adventure Playground opened to the public in December 2009 and has, in the years since, become a popular venue for the city's Party in the Park New Year's Eve celebrations.
