The eroded riverside path under Stanborough Road is being rebuilt in a £44,000 job agreed on 11 August, timed for the autumn so the Splashlands season is not disrupted.

The eroded riverbank and footpath that link the two halves of Stanborough Park under Stanborough Road are to be rebuilt this autumn, after Welwyn Hatfield’s Cabinet agreed a £44,000 contract at its meeting on 11 August.

The path in question runs under the road that divides the park’s northern and southern lakes, and it has been getting narrower. The report to Cabinet describes an embankment worn away “over the years” by erosion and sustained high river levels, leaving uneven surfacing, missing paving and a reduced path width, with complaints from park users rising. Annual events that would normally use the underpass path could not use it in 2025 because of the state of the surface.

What was agreed, and what it costs

Cabinet approved a direct award to Falcon Structural Repairs, a Watford firm registered since 1986, without running a full tender. The council’s stated reason is that the work is specialist: earlier market engagement found few contractors willing to take it on, several approached did not respond, and of the two proposals received, the alternative did not include the footpath repairs and assumed the river would not need damming.

Council officers judged that assumption the more expensive risk. If water levels turned out higher than at the time of survey, damming and pumping would have to be paid for on top. The Falcon proposal covers both the embankment and relaying the block paving, which the report says reduces the chance of overspending.

The money comes from a £50,000 capital allocation already approved under programme reference C0985, so the £44,000 job sits inside an existing budget rather than adding to one.

The timing is deliberate

The works are set for the third quarter of the council’s financial year, which runs from October to December, and the report is explicit about why: to limit disruption to users of Splashlands, the free splash pad and playground in Stanborough Park North that draws its crowds over the summer. Waiting has a cost of its own, though. The report warns that leaving the bank alone risks continued erosion, further deterioration of the path and an increased risk of trips and falls, “particularly for vulnerable users and those using mobility aids”, and that the path may have to be closed off altogether if nothing is done.

One oddity in the public record is worth flagging for anyone checking the source: the council’s published decision page for this item carries the wording of a different Cabinet decision taken the same evening, the Parkhouse Court Public Spaces Protection Order. The report and its recommendation, linked above, are the reliable record of what was decided here.

What it means for you

If you walk between the two lakes: the route stays open for now, but expect the underpass path and the bank beside it to be a working site at some point between October and December. The council has not published dates within that window.

If you organise an event in the park: the underpass path is the stretch that was unusable in 2025. If your event depends on it, the repair is scheduled before next summer, not during it.

If you are visiting the park meanwhile: Splashlands and the boating lake are unaffected by the decision. Our guide to things to do in and around Welwyn Garden City covers what is open at Stanborough Park and what the boats cost.