Council approves trial for two aqua parks in Airlie Beach

Whitsunday Regional Council today approved a six month trial for the operation of two separate aqua parks in the Airlie Beach area to run until 31 October 2015, with an opportunity for the trial to

be extended another six months.

Mayor Jenny Whitney said the two aqua parks are an exciting new attraction on the mainland for locals and tourists in the Airlie Beach area. “The aqua parks consist of a number of inflatable modules connected together to create an adventure activity area consisting of waterslides, trampolines and climbing walls,” she said. “One aqua park will be located in the ocean on the south west edge of the Airlie lagoon rock wall, near the Broadwater carpark – inside the line of the mooring co-ordinates.

“The other aqua park will be located at Beacons Beach on the northern side of stinger enclosure. “Similar aqua parks have proven very popular on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast as a fun filled attraction for locals and backpackers.

“The aqua parks are about 55m2 in size and at maximum capacity can have 65 people on them at once. “The aqua parks can be assembled in one hour and disassembled in approximately 1.5 hours; it is proposed the park will be removed from the water in bad weather. “The parks require water depth of about 2.5 metres for safety reasons, however they need to be close enough to the shore for patrons to be able to swim to them.

“It is proposed the patrons will wear lifejackets and stinger suits at all times and lifeguards will be engaged as a safety requirement. “It is proposed each of the aqua parks will be equipped with a lifeguard tower allowing vision over the entire park and therefore quick response times. “Lifeguards will also roam the park area utilising lifeguard boards to ensure safety to all patrons,” she said.