£800,000 set aside for new splash pads in Ystrad and Pontypridd

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has allocated £800,000 for two new splash pads at Gelligaled Park in Ystrad and Ynysangharad War Memorial Park in Pontypridd. Cabinet approved the investment on 21 September as part of a wider £12 million programme.

The two projects are not at exactly the same stage. The Ystrad splash pad has Cabinet approval. The Pontypridd proposal remains subject to approval by the Ynysangharad War Memorial Park Sub Committee. The council says preparatory work will begin immediately, but it has not published designs or opening dates.

What the £800,000 covers

The allocation is for the two proposed splash pads and improvements to the existing Aquadare splash pad at Aberdare Park. The council says initial designs and plans will be shared later. It has not given a breakdown of how much would be spent at each location.

The £800,000 represents 6.7% of the £12 million programme. The three largest transport allocations in the same package total £9.5 million: £3.5 million for roads, £3 million for the Llanharan corridor and £3 million for Cynon Gateway North. Together, those three items account for 79.2% of the programme.

The rest of the investment programme

Other allocations include £500,000 for parks, £250,000 for flood works, £150,000 for unadopted roads, £150,000 for country parks, £100,000 for play areas, £60,000 for third-sector energy projects, £25,000 for litter bins and £600,000 for a programme pipeline.

The council says the programme will use money identified through its latest budget monitoring work. It has not yet published procurement timetables, detailed designs or completion dates for the splash pads, so the next firm milestones will be the Pontypridd subcommittee decision and the release of the plans.