A £65,000 splash for Mablethorpe with news of the East Coast's first Aqua Park

The Leader can exclusively reveal that a £65,000 investment will see the exciting new facility built at the Grange Leisure Park on Alford Road.

If everything goes to plan, the new park - offering a wide range of thrills and spills - could be in use by the end of May, before the start of the main holiday season.

What originally started out as a fishing lake will be transformed into a fun, 45-metre water activity platform for people of all ages.

The idea has come from Sutton on Sea resident Richard Smith who has 23 years’ experience in sports and leisure management.

Mr Smith is about to leave his post at Tattershall Lakes which boasts a similar facility to the one scheduled for Mablethorpe.

He said he is ‘very excited’ to bring the Aqua Park to Mablethorpe.

Mr Smith explained: “This is the type of facility that is going to draw people into Mablethorpe.

“The town currently has no swimming or tidal pool and doesn’t have any sort of water facility for residential use.

“Hopefully, this new Lincolnshire Aqua Park will fill the gap in the market.”

Richard added that apart from Tattershall Lakes, there is nothing of its type on the East Coast.

He is also keen to give something back to the community he lives in.

Mr Smith is working on the project in partnership with Coastfields Leisure Ltd who own Grange Leisure Park.

Business manager for Coastfields Leisure, David Honman, said the idea for the facility came to them at the right time. He said the company had been looking at various leisure options.

Mr Honman explained: “We have been looking at new ideas to upgrade the offer at Grange Leisure Park.

“We already have five fishing lakes, so we thought it would be great to use this lake for a leisure purpose.”

Mr Smith described the project as ‘exciting and something different for the area’.

He added: “This new aqua park will be open and available to all - not just the holidaymakers.”

The aqua park will be made up of a series inflatable apparatus and as many as 60 people will be able to use the Aqua Park at one time. It is set to open seven days a week, from May-September.

Work will begin after Easter and also includes car parking facilities, as well as toilets and changing rooms.

The Aqua Park project ties in with the work currently on-going at Grange Leisure Park that will bring further investment into the area.

Other improvements include a new family-bar area - which will also be ready by May - providing food and refreshments.