What's happening with Hull's Queen Victoria Square fountains and Pickering Park paddling pool amid row

Works are ongoing to get fountains in Queen Victoria Square up and running for the summer but a west Hull park's paddling pool will remain closed, prompting a political row.

A Hull City Council spokesperson said they were working extremely hard to finish maintenance works on the city centre fountains, and aimed to reopen Pickering Park's padding pool in 2025. Labour opposition leader Cllr Daren Hale, said the failure to have them ready as the weather warms while Queen Victoria Square's toilets remain closed amounted to "incompetence".

Ruling Liberal Democrat spokesperson Cllr Jack Haines said the claims were cynical and hypocritical, adding they were committed to mending the facilities. The row comes as the fountains in Queen Victoria Square, which are popular with children and their families, were not ready in time for last weekend's warm weather.

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Public toilets in the square also remain closed after water leaked into their electrical system at the end of last year, for the second time since 2022. Contractors require five to 10 days of dry weather above 10C to do the repairs and the council is hoping that the toilets can reopen by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, while the Pickering Park paddling pool will now not reopen until 2025, a council spokesperson said it was exploring its options in improving it or developing a new one. The pool closed last year and a consultation on what to do with the space is set to take place this summer.

The council's spokesperson said: "We are hopeful we can reopen the Queen Victoria Square toilets at the end of the month, providing dry warm weather is sustained. We are have been carrying out on-going maintenance works during the planned winter close-down on the fountain in Queen Victoria Square, however there is still some works to do.

"We are working extremely hard to get it up and running again as soon as possible. And we apologise for any inconvenience caused."

Labour's Cllr Hale said the Liberal Democrats had failed to keep local amenities in order while running the council. The opposition leader said: "This is yet another example of how the Liberal Democrats fail to maintain local attractions and let down local people. It is about time they got their fingers out instead of just making excuse after excuse for their incompetence."

Liberal Democrat Cllr Haines said people would not buy the Labour leader's cynicism. The Liberal Democrat said: "Cllr Hale led a council that overspent on pet projects, failed to repair water play areas and neglected the basics, the hypocrisy now from Labour is striking.

"Whether it’s problems in the city centre or across the city in our parks and open spaces, the Liberal Democrat team is committed to fixing the issues the last Labour council left behind."