Maylands Waterland in mid-February, with still a ways to go before the splashpads and sprinklers can re-open. Photo by Catherine Ehrhardt

HOPES of resurrecting Maylands Waterland for Easter have been dashed as scorching weather and logistics issues delay construction.

Construction started mid-2021 and initial hopes were for a summer 2021 reopening, but then heavy rains, labour shortages and global supply problems saw the date pushed back to mid-March in time for an Easter holiday reopening (“Delays push back Waterlands opening”, January 15, 2022).

This week Bayswater councillor Catherine Ehrhardt broke the news that there’d be more delays. Supply chain problems are still plaguing the project, and now it’s hot weather rather than rainfall getting in the way.

“Recently hot weather with conditions in excess of 38 degrees… has impacted both labour supply and the ability to pour concrete to schedule,” Cr Ehrhardt reports.

Cr Ehrhardt tells us the dry playground and picnic area could be opened around late April or Early May, but even once the water play elements are built it’ll still be a while before official opening: State laws require the WA Health department to carry out water testing that’ll take at least three weeks. 

With the watery bits usually closed in the cold months, the next likely date for a full reopening is September or October 2022.

by DAVID BELL