Pool fencing

Press, 26 July 1989, Page 16

Pool fencing

Sir,—Your article on July 21 concerning the ornamental pool outside the new United Building Society building raises some quite interesting questions. Here we have what is equivalent to an inground swimming pool, protected by a few, easily climbed seats and a few simple railings. The Swimming Pools Act, 1987, Is now being enforced by local bodies and people are even being prosecuted where accidental drownings occur because of incorrectly fenced swimming pools. Are there now two sets of rules? The general public must fence with elaborate child-proof systems and yet it appears the council and big business have another set of rules with which to comply.—Yours, etc., COLIN EATON. July 22, 1989.

• Sir,—Some correspondents are astoundingly self-righteous about the attainability of perfect parenting. Like ail mothers, I love my children and do my best to care adequately for them. However, in 13'/j years of mothering, my children have often been but of my sight, and (sometimes' simultaneously) our property’s gate has many times been left open or unlatched — r ■' - -

by myself, exhausted after a shopping trip, by my own or other children, exhibiting normal childish carelessness, by various adults who “should” have known better but, like me, are only human. Fortunately, my children are naturally cautious. None of them showed any desire in her/ his first four years to leave our property without a familiar adult. Some infants, however, are only too glad to explore and will slip through an unlatched gate or a tiny gap in a “sound” fence. It takes seconds for a child to leave her family’s property, and a few minutes to walk into a pool and drown. — Yours, etc., CATHERINE GLUE. July 21, 1989.

Sir,—-It is hardly surprising that Christchurch residents cannot prevent themselves from falling into an ornamental pond and need a safety rail to keep them out. This, however, raises serious fears about other hazards to citizens. It seems to me the Mount Cavendish gondola will be a very foolhardy project if people are liable to topple off the summit unless there are safety rails. Have such rails been included in research into environmental impact? What is surprising is that vehicles are still hurtling along our streets without safety rails to prevent pedestrians getting in their way, a more frequent occurrence than falling into ponds.—Yours, etc., K. W. YOUNG. July 21, 1989.