Future Developments at Breckland Leisure Centre & Waterworld

Significant improvements are due to be made to the Leisure Pool provision at Breckland Leisure Centre & Waterworld following approval of a £108,000 investment project to upgrade and reconfigure the existing water features.

The aim of this project is to enhance the existing swimming pool facilities by introducing more modern, colourful, and interactive play equipment at the shallow end of the Leisure Pool, whilst utilising the current spa pool area which is also due to be decommissioned.

The wave machine, rapids channel, and beach area bubble pad will be retained, with the water mushroom replaced with the following features:-

1 x Interactive Waterball. The waterball includes a variety of features including:

• 2 x fill’n’spill buckets. The buckets will be filled via waterball jets. Children can tip the buckets to ‘spill’ water back into the pool.
• 2 x interactive handwheels. Each wheel will be connected to a 4-way valve allowing children to control the flow of water to 8 of the waterball jets.
• 2 x cannon jets. These are high volume, low pressure jets that create a gentle flow of water into the pool.
• 2 x interactive water channels. The channels will each feature 2 paddles that allow children to manipulate the flow of water through them and back in the pool. The channels will be fed via one of the cannon jets and will be set at different heights to create a cascading effect.
• 3 x themed fish squirt arms - These bright and colour fish will hang from arms above the waterball squirting water out into the beach area.

1x Interactive Mast - The interactive mast will hold 3 interactive arms and a mast top feature as described below:

• 1 x large waterwheel arm. The wheel will be propelled via a jet in the arm causing it to spin water in several directions.
• 1 x large tipping bucket arm. The bucket will gradually fill via a jet in the arm. When a critical fill level is reached the bucket is forced to tip, splashing litres of water onto those below.
• 1 x pipefalls arm. Water jets out of the arm creating an arch of water into the pool.
• 1 x large tipping bucket and splash board. The bucket will gradually fill via a water jet until a critical fill level is reached. At this point the buckets are forced to tip, pouring litres of water onto the splash board below. The splash board then disperses the water over a wide area creating a great visual impact and anticipatory play.

1 x Toddler Slide - The slide will feature a bright and colourful design with a tactile surface, moving elements and mirrors to bring an additional element of play to a traditional toddler slide.

Finally, the redundant spa pool area will be transformed into a colourful and aquatic themed interactive play area designed to excite and stimulate the minds of a range of users, aimed to help to develop auditory, visual and mental stimulation in less water confident customers and those with SEN who prefer to play on the pool side as opposed to from in the water itself.

When will the new equipment be installed?

The lead time for the installation of these new features is approximately 12-week. Further details on the exact timescales, theming, and final designs for this project will be communicated as soon as this information becomes available.

The decommissioning and infilling of the spa pool will take approximately 2-days, and require the closure of both the Learner Pool and Leisure Pool throughout both of these days. Any customer affected by this closure will be contacted in advance once full details are known, but will be scheduled in such a way as to minimise disruption to swimming lessons and public swimming sessions.

The installation of the new features will take approximately 5-days. This will be programmed during the week, during term-time, and before 4pm to avoid the cancellation of any swimming lessons or public swimming sessions.

We have been fortunate to have been granted funding for this project by the board members of Lex Leisure, following the submission of a detailed proposal, which highlighted the various benefits of improving the inclusivity of our Leisure Pool facilities.

The Leisure Pool and features at Breckland Leisure Centre & Waterworld are already very popular during school holidays, at weekends, and during school holidays. However, the delivery of this project will provide more inclusive leisure pool facilities that can be accessed safely by non-swimmers and customers with mental, sensory and physical disabilities.

The project proposal has been developed in partnership with interactive water play company; Hippo Leisure. Hippo design their water play areas to include play features at varying levels in order to allow customers of any height, age or ability to gain access. Furthermore their features are specifically designed to allow ample wheelchair space in order to offer less able or wheelchair bound customers to gain the same interactive play opportunities.

By utilising the shallow water in the Leisure Pool ‘beach’ area and redundant spa pool to install interactive play equipment it is anticipated that this project will enhance the current swimming pool provision for children with disabilities, and both children and adults with complex needs who are unable to access the Learner Pool, Main Pool, and aspects of the Leisure Pool such as the flume and wave machine during normal public swimming operation. The interactive play equipment will also provide the added benefit of improving water confidence in toddlers and young non-swimmers through interactive water play in shallow water.

The interactive play equipment will enhance the inclusivity of existing public leisure/fun swim sessions, and accessible swimming sessions, but also add value to our existing Adaptive Swimming lesson programme and Swimability session for children with special educational needs and physical disabilities.