Exeter's new Heavitree water play facility will not open until Spring 2027: the concrete needs a 28-day cure. The St Thomas splash pad stays open for now.

The new water play facility at Heavitree Pleasure Ground will not open this month as the council hoped. It will now open in Spring 2027. Exeter City Council announced the delay on 22 September. (Exeter City Council, 22 September 2026)

The reason is concrete. The bases for the new facility were being finished last week, and they need a 28-day curing process before anything can be built on them. That pushes the job past the end of the swimming season.

Councillor Duncan Wood, the council’s lead for leisure services, healthy living and public realm management, said: “We were really hoping to get the new water play facility up and running by the end of September, but unfortunately that is not now going to happen.” He said the council would “look towards an opening next Spring when the air temperatures start to warm up again”.

Heavitree families have now lost a second summer

The old paddling pools closed for good in June, after the ageing infrastructure failed. The council’s own account is blunt about the scale of it: underground pipework, water treatment and filtration systems, pumps, electrical infrastructure, drainage systems and the surrounding surfacing all needed replacing. At that point the council decided to press ahead with the new scheme instead. (Exeter City Council, 31 July 2026)

That was a 2026 summer with no pools. Spring 2027 means the replacement misses the rest of this year too.

The wait is longer than that, though. The council announced the makeover in July 2021, when it said construction would start in the autumn of 2022 and, “all going well, the new water play facilities and play areas will be ready to reopen in May 2023”. (Exeter City Council, 8 July 2021)

Spring 2027 is roughly four years after the date the council first put in public.

Timeline of Exeter City Council announcements on the Heavitree water play facility: July 2021 makeover announced with a May 2023 reopening targeted; June 2026 paddling pools close for good; 31 July 2026 work starts; August 2026 path shut for new water and power supplies; 22 September 2026 opening moves to Spring 2027 after a 28-day concrete cure; week of 28 September 2026 mechanical and electrical installation begins; Spring 2027 wet and dry play areas open together.
What the council has said about the Heavitree pools since 2021. Source: Exeter City Council news releases. Graphic by The Exeter Times.
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What is happening on the site now

The council set out the next steps in its 22 September update:

  • Works to the surrounding tarmac and the enlarged pump house were expected to finish by the end of last week
  • Mechanical and electrical installation starts in the week beginning 28 September
  • Procurement for the new play area is under way, with requests for quotations issued to potential suppliers and contractors
  • The new play area goes to the north of the existing one, so the current play area stays open right through the construction period
  • The existing play area is refurbished at the same time. Some equipment that has reached the end of its life will be removed
  • On completion the fence between the two comes out, making one larger play space, with new gates linking it to the water play facility
  • The wet and dry areas open together in Spring 2027

Work in August needed a footpath between the tennis courts and the Park Cafe to shut for several days, to move materials for the new water and power supplies. The tennis courts and the Park Cafe stayed open. A large excavation next to the facility is for a new underground water storage tank, which lets water be recycled rather than run to waste. (Exeter City Council, 5 August 2026)

The charity Park Life Heavitree supplied the connection to its own three-phase power supply for the project. It is recovering the cost from the council, but asked that the equivalent value be put back into the play area refurbishment rather than absorbed into utility bills. Amy Close, its chair of trustees, said that if it meant “funding can be redirected towards additional play equipment, then that’s a fantastic outcome for the community”.

Why it is not a paddling pool any more

The council’s original plan was to keep a larger traditional paddling pool and bring it up to modern standards. It says that proved undeliverable: a conventional refurbishment, plus replacing the failed infrastructure, plus meeting modern water quality standards, “could not be delivered within the funding available”.

What replaces it is a dedicated shallow water play and paddling area, with the larger former pool area turned into an interactive splash play space. In the council’s consultation, more than 74% of respondents backed a facility combining traditional water play with interactive splash features.

The council says a significant share of the money goes underground, on pumps, filtration, circulation and electrics, and that the design leaves room for more water features later if further funding appears.

What it means for you

If you were waiting for Heavitree to reopen this autumn, it will not.

The nearest council alternative is the Splash Pad at St Thomas Pleasure Ground, which the council says will stay open to families “for the next few weeks”, subject to weather and operational considerations. It is a seasonal facility, so check before setting out rather than assuming.

At Heavitree itself, the existing play area, the tennis courts and the Park Cafe are not part of the closure. Only the water play site is fenced off.

One thing worth knowing for Spring 2027: the council intends to open the water play area and the refurbished dry play area on the same day, rather than in stages. So the date, when it comes, covers both.

More ideas for the meantime are on our things to do in Exeter page, and if you are driving over, parking in Exeter has the tariffs.

Sources