Hepburn Shire Council Creswick ward councillor Don Henderson said while he would have liked the see the park operational by last Christmas, the council was still “negotiating with contractors” on fittings.

So far, the earthwork levelling has been completed along with the car park.

“I don’t have an opening date,” Cr Henderson said.

“We need to install the fittings and so on. It will be finished before the end of summer. The hold up was we wanted to get the best value for money – more items – so we were negotiating with the tenderers.”

He said as the park was the first of its type in the shire, it was worth waiting for to get done properly. He suggested Creswick residents travel to Ballarat in the meantime.

”If it’s this week or next week seems irrelevant. It’s probably relevant to the kids, but they didn’t have one before. They do go to (the) Ballarat (splash park). I’m known as not as speedster and I can get there in 11 minutes.”

Creswick resident Phil Carter said locals had been promised the park would by operational by summer. Well in January, Mr Carter said there was no chance that would happen.

“That’s what everybody was told. They made a big thing about it that it would be part of the streetscape and they would have the water park open for the kids for summer,” he said.

“All they’ve done now - it’s just a vacant block with just a wire fence. They’ve got a shipping container there but there’s no way it will be ready for summer now.

“It’s only been levelled; nothing’s been done.”

Creswick teenager Oliver Broad, 15, said he was disappointed the park wasn’t up and running. He said on recent hot days, he’d “chill at home in front of the air conditioning, or ride on my skateboard”, but would rather be at the splash park.

Creswick mother Kathy Lange echoed his sentiments, saying with recent hot weather, “it would have been a treat”.

“It doesn’t look like it’s even started. It’s a bit disappointing to see it not even happening.”