Council to call public hearing on pool-fencing by-law

Press, 31 August 1984, Page 5

Council to call public hearing on pool-fencing by-law

A Christchurch City Council public hearing on swimming pool fencing will be held before a by-law is adopted later this year.

Members of the council’s town-planning committee said yesterday that a hearing would allow a wide range of public comment on the proposed by-law.

Pool owners had not been consulted when the by-law was being drafted, and the hearing would give them a chance to propose specific changes. Other interest groups, such as the Plunket Society, would also have a chance to speak on the need for a bylaw.

Final adoption of a bylaw will be postponed because of the hearing, but a by-law could still become effective this year. Christchurch swimming pool owners met earlier this week to call for more' flexibility in the proposed by-

law. They said that emphasis should be placed on securing a property, rather than fencing the pool area itself.

Mr Alan Rosling said that all pool owners at the meeting had “a deep sense of responsibility” about pool security. They agreed that a by-law was inevitable, but one was needed that would not place an “unreasonable strain” on council inspectors and pool owners. Mr Rosling said the council also had the option of adopting a by-law that applied only to pools being built from now on, instead of being retrospective. He said that existing pools had been ignored by 11 of 35 New Zealand local bodies considering pool fencing by-laws. Mrs Doreen Collins, who organised the meeting of pool owners, said that most properties with pools had well fenced boundaries already. Many also had

fenced pool areas. Mrs Collins said that nothing was being done to restrict access to rivers, park paddling pools, culverts, open drains, ponds, gutters, and bathtubs. Cr Alister James said that a number of groups had an interest in child safety, and might want to make submissions to a public hearing. Cr Helen Garrett, the town-planning committee’s chairman, said the pool owners’ meeting had prompted councillors to make a more “searching” study of the issue. Getting as much public participation as possible at this stage was important, said Cr Matthew Glubb, so that the council did not have to change its by-law later. The council had to ensure that it gave equal weight to all submissions from the public, said Cr Alex Clark.