The pool is currently fenced off and awaiting works
St Andrew’s Park paddling pool is popular with families every summer(Image: BristolLive)
Bristol City Council has given an update on the expected timeframe for the reopening of a popular paddling pool in a Bristol park.
Local residents have been anticipating the reopening of the St Andrew’s Park paddling pool, which was initially given an opening date on the authority’s website of the early May Bank Holiday weekend.
But the pool, which draws in families over the summer months each year, is still fenced off end empty of water.
And members of a Facebook page dedicated to locals’ love of the pool believed that work was still needed to be carried out on the structure before it could open.
Now (Friday, May 16) Bristol City Council has confirmed that there is currently no specific opening date for the reopening of the paddling pool.
St Andrew’s Park paddling pool is still fenced off (May 15, 2025)(Image: Paul Gillis/Reach Plc)
But the council told BristolLive that it did have an update on the pool, and said: “Further works are required before the pool in St Andrew’s Park is ready for opening.
“Some rendering of the pool walls and painting is due to be completed soon, however completion of any works is weather-dependent.
“We will continue to keep the local community updated on any progress and residents can find the latest news via our website and social media channels.
“We look forward to opening the paddling pool again to the public in time for the summer.”
This isn’t the first time that local residents have been expecting the pool to open in early May and have been left waiting a longer period of time while work is carried out to get the pool prepared for summer visitors.
In May last year, BristolLive reported that the paddling pool still needed to undergo a series of works before it could reopen to the public, Bristol City Council said at the time.
St Andrew’s Park paddling pool, in Bishopston (pictured in 2019)(Image: Google Maps)
In 2023, the pool didn’t reopen until June 15. So it could be several more weeks until the paddling pool opens again for summer.
Residents were left without the pool for years during the Covid-19 pandemic, as it closed for renovations in 2020 and was left surrounded by fencing which many neighbours called an ‘eyesore’.
Locals feared the pool would not reopen at all after the pandemic meant there were delays to renovation work.
A petition was launched to try and remove the fencing surrounding the paddling pool early in 2022, claiming it was causing a ‘detrimental effect on park-goers’.
In the 2022 summer season the pool was re-opened. Since those initial repairs, the pool now opens on a seasonal basis.
It is such a landmark of the park and local area, that it even has its own dedicated Facebook group, named ‘We Love St Andrews Paddling Pool’.