Elmbridge's £2.2m splashpads must be built in three months

Elmbridge Borough Council is spending £2.2 million on three splashpads, at Hersham, Molesey Hurst and Cobham. A paper that went to its Cabinet on 16 September sets out the timetable, and the timetable is tight.

Contracts are due to be awarded on 6 October 2026. Building is expected to start in January 2027. The whole programme has to be finished before 1 April 2027, which is the day Elmbridge Borough Council stops existing and its services transfer to the new East Surrey Council.

That leaves roughly three months of construction, in winter, across three sites, with planning permission not yet settled.

None of this has been announced. The council’s public news pages have mentioned “plans for new splashpads in Cobham and Molesey” once, in April, with no cost, no third site and no dates. The figures below are from the Water Play Strategy Update published with the Cabinet agenda.

The three sites

• Hersham Recreation Ground, where the existing splashpad is being renewed
• Molesey Hurst Recreation Ground, a new splashpad
• Leg O’ Mutton Field, Cobham, a new splashpad, on the same field as the skatepark whose opening event was held on 12 September

Each project is being procured separately, in lots, and may be awarded to one supplier or several.

The council adopted its Water Play Strategy in September 2023. The strategy set out an initial phase of three splashpads by March 2027, and five tests for where they go: an even spread across the borough, priority for children under six, siting next to something that earns income where possible, decent parking, and solutions that are sustainable to run as well as to build.

The design brief in the paper is specific. The facilities are to be primarily for children under six, with a preference for recirculating water systems where the utilities allow it, and solar panels where feasible.

The £2.2 million covers everything: design and construction, utilities, planning and statutory approvals, site preparation, landscaping and all the associated infrastructure needed to get a working splashpad.

The timetable, and why it is the story

Tender submissions were due on 2 September, moderation was held on 15 September, and contract award is anticipated on 6 October 2026. Works are then “expected to commence in January 2027”, subject to potential planning approval.

The paper names its own risks, and they are the obvious ones: budget overruns, delays in obtaining Shadow Authority approval if it is needed, delays to contract award and delivery, and any planning permission requirements that could affect the programme.

Two details in that sentence are worth pulling out.

Planning permission is not in hand. Building starts in January “subject to potential planning approval”, and planning is listed as a risk to the whole programme. The council is both the applicant and the planning authority here, but that does not make a determination automatic, and it does not make it quick.

The section 24 position is finely balanced. Under the direction that governs Elmbridge’s final year, spending commitments above a threshold need the consent of the East Surrey Shadow Authority. The paper says the splashpads are exempt, because the procurement started before 3 July 2026. It then adds that section 24 approval may be required if the total sum awarded to a contractor exceeds the allocated budget. In other words, the exemption holds only while the price holds.

What Cabinet was asked to do, and what it decided

Cabinet was asked to delegate authority to the Deputy Chief Executive and Strategic Director to award the contracts and approve the spending, within the approved budget.

We cannot yet tell you what it resolved. The minutes of the 16 September meeting had still not been published when we checked on 21 September, five days on, and the agenda item page carries no decision. The council’s delegated decisions register has nothing from that meeting either. We will add the resolution here when it appears.

The other half of the money: eight play areas, and one that has gone quiet

The splashpads sit alongside a separate £4.5 million commitment to play equipment between 2026 and 2028, agreed as a Play Strategy Extension in April. The council runs 36 play areas, and it named eight for refurbishment in 2026/27, which it called its largest single year commitment in recent years.

Six months on, this is where those eight stand, according to the council’s own dated updates:

Three of the eight are finished, three are under way, one is due to start this week, and the Brooklands bike jumps have not appeared in a single council update since April. Nothing on the council’s play area page explains why.

Two outdoor gyms have also been replaced with calisthenics equipment, at Coronation recreation ground in Hersham and at Molesey Hurst, both reported complete on 10 August. Those are not play areas and were not among the eight.

One consultation is also still owed. The council said in June it would ask residents for their preferred options for the play and skate areas at Lower Green recreation ground “in the autumn”. It has not opened yet.

What it means for you

If you use these parks. Molesey Hurst and Leg O’ Mutton Field are both getting building sites over the winter if the timetable holds. Molesey Hurst has already lost its pool: Hurst Pool closed on 7 September for a £1.45 million refurbishment due back in early 2027, so the recreation ground is carrying two projects at once. The park and play area there stay open throughout the pool works.

If you want a say. The Lower Green recreation ground consultation is the one public input point left in the play programme, and it has not opened yet. Watch the council’s play area page, which the council updates in place rather than posting new items, so the web address never changes.

If you are wondering what happens after April. Everything unfinished on 1 April 2027 becomes East Surrey Council’s problem, along with the rest of Elmbridge’s assets. We have written about where the new council will be run from and what happens to the Elmbridge mayoralty.

Sources

• Elmbridge Borough Council, Water Play Strategy Update, Cabinet, 16 September 2026 for the three sites, the £2.2 million budget, what the budget covers, the September 2023 strategy adoption, the design objectives, the procurement dates, the January 2027 start, the completion deadline before 1 April 2027, the section 24 exemption and the listed risks.
• Elmbridge Borough Council, Cabinet agenda, 16 September 2026 and its agenda item page for item 5, checked 21 September 2026, which carried no published decision or minutes.
• Elmbridge Borough Council, Making our parks even better: play area improvement schedule, a running page with dated updates of 21 April, 2 June, 1 July, 16 July, 10 August and 11 September 2026, for the £4.5 million, the Play Strategy Extension, the 36 play areas, the list of eight, and the status of each site.
• Elmbridge Borough Council, Hurst Pool refurbishment update, updated 17 September 2026, for the 7 September start, the £1.45 million cost and the early 2027 completion.