Plea for fencing laws

Press, 7 June 1983, Page 6

Plea for fencing laws

Parliamentary reporter More children would drown needlessly if the Government failed to pass poolfencing legislation, the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society has said. The society told a Parliamentary select committee studying the fencing of private swimming pools that the Government should require local authorities to adopt pool-fencing by-laws. Making people fence their swimming pools was the only way of ensuring that the present high number of children drowning in them was reduced.

“Drownings in domestic pools are almost totally eliminated when those pools are adequately fenced,” said

the society’s director of medical services, Dr David Geddis.

Drowning came second only to car accidents as a killer of children aged more than one. The proportion of pre-school drownings occurring in private swimming pools had risen from 31 per cent in the early 1970 s to 54 per cent in the early 1980 s. “The domestic swimming pool is an increasing hazard to pre-school children,” Dr Geddis said. Publicity had failed to persuade people to fence their pools. In spite of a big safety campaign between 1980 and 1982, the number of pools in Christchurch rose sharply, but the percentage with fences fell.

“Legislation is necessary,” he said. Only 37 of New Zealand’s 232 local authorities had adopted or had indicated they were going to adopt pool fencing by-laws. The society had canvassed all local authorities and found that many were waiting for the Government to take the lead. Dr Geddis said many local authorities, particularly those in rural areas, seemed unable to cope with the issue. Either they gave nonsensical reasons for not passing by-laws or they passed by-laws that were inadequate. The Government’s legislation should specify minimum standards for pool-

fencing by-laws, he said. The society wanted indoor pools and spa pools to be dealt with by the legislation. Indoor spa pools were becoming common and could be a hazard.

The Society’s deputy director of medical services, Dr lan Hassall, told the committee that delaying the imposition of by-laws would cost lives. “We cannot wait another year or so and have another 12 children drown,” Dr Hassall said. The committee’s chairman, Mr G. W. F. Thompson, said the committee still had many submissions to hear and did not expect to report to Parliament until late July.