It's the first day of the May half term and parents up and down Wales are busy planning fun activities to do with their children while they're off school. Some will be taking their youngsters to museums like National Museum Cardiff or the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea whilst others will explore Wales' greatest markets, like the recently refurbished Newport Market, or smaller events in their local community like the Llanrumney Hall Summer Fete.
Others will flock to our gorgeous beaches, parks and splash parks - but mums and dads in one Welsh town expecting to spend Half Term and a free splash park attraction will be disappointed to learn the community splash park has had to shut down temporarily, before it's even opened for the season.
Aberavon Aqua Splash, an inclusive aquatic play area next to Aberavon Beach, launched last summer and saw hundreds of children and their families enjoy countless days out playing in the water features and enjoying family time together. The attraction, which cost £350,000 to build, features 30 water features, including fountains, jets and waterfalls and replaced a paddling pool and small water play area which was popular with locals but needed to be refurbished.
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While the Aberavon Aqua Splash page on Facebook suggested the park would be opening to the public in time for the May Half Term, Neath Port Talbot Council has confirmed it is unable to open the splash park yet - as there's a seagull nesting on top of one of the water features. Biodiversity officers from the council are understood to have visited the site over the weekend and found "a pair of Herring Gulls" nesting on top of a water bucket attraction.
Under UK law, the loved-up seagulls cannot be disturbed until the nest is empty, the council said, and opening the splash park to the public "would amount to disturbance under the act and so would be an unlawful act". With this in mind, it's understood Aberavon Aqua Splash cannot open until the seagull eggs hatch and the family of seagulls move on.
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A statement from Neath Port Talbot Council explained: "Herring gulls [also known as seagulls] are Red Listed birds - these are birds in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man listed as being in most urgent need of our help. It includes some of our rarest birds such as Hen Harriers and Capercaillie but also familiar birds like House Sparrows and Starlings, which have suffered huge declines.
"Although the location of this Herring Gull nest is unfortunate, it is good to see them nesting locally. The nest in Aquasplash is on a ‘tipping bucket’ feature and it has been observed that the large bucket is currently quite full with rainwater. With the design of the feature, once it gets to a certain volume, it will automatically tip and potentially wash the nest away.
"Given however that any human interference or activity around the nest could result in disturbance and subsequent abandonment of the nest, council officers are not able to intervene to prevent this from happening.
"The council has liaised with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) which has confirmed support for the council’s approach. There will now be continuous monitoring of the situation and the facility will be open as soon as practically/lawfully possible."
A spokesperson for the council added: "The contractors on site showed professionalism in understanding their obligation to the law and to the gulls. We will continue to monitor the site and will also be taking steps to prevent this reoccurring in future years."
