AN ageing water play area in a town park looks set to be refurbished under new plans.

Wychavon District Council plans to replace the “outdated” water play facilities in Evesham’s Abbey Park at a cost of around £330,000.

Councillors agreed to put aside £100,000 in 2020 to replace the water play with a “similar quality” scheme but the council has now said it now plans to build a “vastly improved and ambitious” new facility.

The council added it was concerned that if the water play in Abbey Park was not replaced soon it would be “highly likely” that its mechanics would fail resulting in “long delays” and a small play area with “very little useable equipment.”

If approved by the council’s executive board, work could start in September.

A report, which will be discussed by the board at a meeting on July 20, said: “The replacement of the water play facility at Abbey Park has been a priority for several years as the existing provision is now outdated in both design and operation.

“Equally, the costs of recommissioning it in the early spring are increasing year on year despite the parks team and suppliers performing wonders to keep the facility open.

“The pandemic evidenced more than ever the importance that the public place on accessible parks and this has been re-enforced in the most recent resident survey.

“Equally, officers and councillors have come to the view that any replacement facility should be of a quality that both befits the ambition for Evesham but also, acknowledges the unique setting in an historic park adjacent to a major river.

“As a result, tenders have been invited on a vastly improved and ambitious scheme with a view to commencing work in September 2022.”

The council said the project will cost an estimated £330,000 – of which more than £75,000 would come from section 106 money which the council has been handed from housing developers to pay for infrastructure such as roads, schools, GPs and hospitals, affordable housing, public space and other local services in return for allowing large developments to be built.