The opening hours for the city’s popular splashpad are set to be cut by the council in a bid to save money.

Worcester City Council has revealed it is considering cutting the time the city’s Gheluvelt Park’s splashpad would be open by around two months – from 166 to 100 days a year.

At the moment, the splashpad opens from the Easter school holidays until early September but the new money-saving proposals would see the water play area open from the summer school holidays until the beginning of the new school year.

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The council said opening the splashpad later than Easter would save around £26,000 a year.

The council also revealed that staff would end their ‘permanent presence’ at the splashpad with agency workers brought in at a cost of around £15,000 a year to deal with any issues while it is open.

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The city council’s policy and resources committee will be given several money-saving options for the city’s splashpad at a meeting in the Guildhall on September 5.

The options include closing the splashpad completely – which would save more than £80,000 a year – to cutting back opening days and times and only opening at weekends.

The city council’s officers will recommend to councillors to take up their preferred option, which would see the splashpad open from 11am to 4pm between May 24 and July 18 next year and 11am to 6pm between July 19 and September 1.

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“This option would reduce energy and water costs and staff costs during periods when the splashpad is less used,” officers said.

“The saving would be offset by the need to buy in up to £15,000 seasonal agency work to increase core capacity in the team during the operating season.

“Staff saving is maximised by moving away from having a permanent presence at the splashpad.

“This will continue to provide a good level of access across the whole week, during periods of the summer when demand would be at its highest.

The city council has warned of job losses and further cuts to services with a worrying gap in the authority’s budget expected to rise to at least £4m in the next five years.

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The council warns that already squeezed services will be cut to the bone with only the amenities the authority has to do by law spared from the chop.

The policy and resources committee meets in the Guildhall from 7pm on Tuesday, September 5.