A COMPANY that received £70,000 from BCP Council to create a lagoon water park and failed has gone into liquidation. 

Adventure is Out There 365 was awarded the taxpayers’ money back in 2021 to deliver the water park on green belt land. 

However, the project failed to get past the planning application stage and BCP Council was never handed any money back. 

The Bournemouth-based business filed for voluntary liquidation in September, with liquidators Tauseef Rashid and David Meany of Quantuma Advisory brought in to wind down the firm. 

Hurn councillor and parish council chair Margaret Phipps, a vocal critic all along, said it is “outrageous” the grant was awarded to the company. 

She said: “I said all along that as far as I'm concerned, that grant for £70,000 should never have been awarded to them in the first place. 

“That money, even at grants of £15,000, could have gone to several companies that actually needed it, companies that were actually operating. 

Cllr Margaret PhippsCllr Margaret Phipps

“I’ve queried it and have been on the case with this for a couple of years - what is this money for.

“Originally I was told it was for them to put in a planning application and it was a long-term strategic thing. That turned out to be completely untrue. 

“And when I delved further, we found it wasn't for a planning application but it was for a couple of reports to be done towards a planning application.” 

BCP Council’s spokesman has argued the £70k grant was awarded legitimately and was audited internally. 

An aerial view of land near Bournemouth Airport at Hurn earmarked for the new Elysium waterpark which would combine a tropical indoor pool and an outdoor park. Picture taken on September 18, 2019, by Stephen Bath

The spokesman said: “Bournemouth based developer Adventure Is Out There 365 received a grant of £70,000 from BCP Council during the pandemic years through the scheme known as the Bounce Back Challenge Fund. 

“The application to draw up plans for a lagoon park at Hurn was awarded in line with the criteria provided. 

“The company spent the funds in accordance with their application and the scheme itself, which was set out clearly on the council’s website at the time. 

“The application was audited by BCP Council’s internal auditors and the Bounce Back Challenge Fund as a whole was scrutinised by central government.” 

The project was planned for green belt land near Bournemouth Airport and would have combined a tropical indoor pool and an outdoor park.