Aquadrome improvements complete for the summer

Improvement work at the popular Rickmansworth Aquadrome has now been completed in time for the busy summer season.

At the end of last year Three Rivers District Council and the Countryside Management Service secured a grant of £118,000 from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) to fund the project. The ALSF grant is administered by Natural England via the Department for Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and is awarded to sites where aggregate (sand, gravel and crushed stones) has been extracted in the past, such as the Aquadrome. The beautiful lakes at the Aquadrome mark the areas where gravel was extracted and it is said some of this gravel was used to build the original Wembley Stadium.

Improvement works now completed include: reedbed creation, installation of information boards, tree management work, installation of new dog bins, benches and litter bins, resurfacing of the car park, surfacing of 700 metres of footpath (making the Aquadrome accessible for all visitors), unblocking of ditches, new fingerpost signage and new interpretation panels.

The brand new environmentally friendly Café In the Park and toilet block also opened at the beginning of April, part-funded by the District Council.

Kay FitzGerald, Biodiversity Projects Officer at the District Council, said:

"We are delighted the improvement work has been completed in time for the busy summer holiday season; the Aquadrome is such a popular venue, not just for local residents but also for visitors from across the county and further afield. The improvement work means all these visitors will be able to access the site, enjoy the best possible facilities and learn about the Aquadrome's interesting history."

For more information about the improvement work and what the Aquadrome has to offer, residents can visit the District Council's YouTube channel to watch a short film about the Aquadrome: www.youtube.com/TRDCcomms .