Medway Council has approved plans for up to £5million investment in Splashes Sports Centre in Rainham.
Splashes Sports Centre is a well-used and much-loved leisure facility which offers Medway’s only family fun pool, including a flume and wave machine.
The building is now 30 years old and has required a lot of maintenance in recent years.
Full Council approved redevelopment plans last night (16 July) to create a centre which offers fun family-friendly activities that complement sessions held at Medway’s other sports centres.
The plans include providing modern changing facilities suitable for families including family change, baby change and showers; creating spaces for family friendly activities such as party rooms; future-proofing the centre by utilising solar power and rainfall collections; updating and renewing the flume and providing a café.
The centre is currently closed in line with government guidelines due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and will not reopen until the redevelopment is complete.
Medway Park and Strood Sports Centre will reopen on Saturday, 25 July.
The council is currently putting plans in place to reopen Hoo Sports Centre in August. All sports centre members will be able to use Medway Park and Strood Sports Centre.
A Splashes Development Project Board and an Officer Working Group will now be created to take the proposals forward. Splashes is expected to be reopen in early 2022.
Full Council also agreed to add £135,000 to the council’s capital programme to invest in play areas. The funding will be used to provide a long-term future for play areas across Medway by replacing some of the equipment at play areas in Darnley Road, Strood, Maidstone Road Sports Ground, Chatham, and Heritage Drive, Gillingham.
The investment in Splashes Sports Centre and in play areas supports Medway Council’s aspiration to become a Child-Friendly City, putting Medway’s young people at the centre of everything the council does.
Ensuring Splashes has even better facilities for families to enjoy
Cllr Howard Doe, Portfolio Holder for Community Services at Medway Council, said: “I am delighted Full Council has approved up to £5million investment in Splashes Sports Centre. The funding will be used to future-proof the centre and ensure that it has even better facilities for families across Medway, and further afield, to enjoy. Children are at the heart of everything we do and I am pleased that we are continuing to invest in facilities for them to enjoy. I was also pleased that Full Council approved a further £135,000 for our play areas. It is very important that we continue to invest in our local play areas to ensure children have somewhere to safely play.”