Council addresses health and safety issues at Pool
< Council addresses health and
safety issues at Edgeware Pool Machinery was moved on site
at Edgeware Pool this morning to address health and safety
issues at the closed facility. Since the 74-year-old
outdoor pool closed at the end of the 2005-06 summer season,
there has been concern because of associated health and
safety risks with St Albans residents, in particular
children, getting in to the locked facility. Christchurch
City Council Recreation and Sports Manager John Filsell says
with the outdoor pool unable to be completely emptied it was
feared a child would fall in to the two-metre deep pool and
be seriously injured or possibly drown. He says as Council
had made a decision to close the facility as part of its
extensive public consultation of the Aquatic Facilities Plan
and Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP), Council
officers this morning proceeded with collapsing the pool
tank and filling in the pool to remove the serious health
and safety risks posed to the community. "Council officers
determined the risks were too serious to delay this
work." He says a number of serious cracks in the bottom of
the pool tank had meant Council had been unable to
completely empty the pool. "This water posed a serious
health and safety risk to anyone getting in to the locked
facility. "This water has also become stagnant and a
breeding ground for mosquitoes and disease. We have been
unable to treat the water because of concerns with it
leaching into the groundwater and a nearby well."
Mr
Filsell says the work was endorsed by Water Safety New
Zealand. "Water Safety New Zealand say where there is the
potential for drowning or injury, the most appropriate
action to mitigate health and safety risks is to fill in the
pool tank. Elimination, rather than minimisation of the
hazard is favoured where measures to secure a site, such as
with adequate fencing, have failed and the owner is aware of
continued access." Edgeware Pool failed at the end of the
2005-06 season. For the last five years Council has been
committed to keeping the pool open with extensive repairs
and patching. This had cost Christchurch ratepayers more
than $75,000. Mr Filsell says unfortunately, every
facility had a useful lifespan beyond which the cost of
maintenance outweighs the benefits, and simply at
74-years-old Edgeware Pool had reached the end of its
life. "Industry experts put the cost of fixing the pool up
to $600,000, a considerable expense to ratepayers for an
outdoor pool that operates for only a couple months of the
year and is poorly patronised. "The independent engineers
could give no guarantees that even if the repairs were
undertaken that these would provide a long-term solution.
The Council needs to be accountable to all its
citizens." Mr Filsell says to replace the pool would cost
in excess of $1.6 million and was inconsistent with the
Council's Aquatic Facilities Plan which provides a framework
for the development of a citywide network of facilities
during the next 30 years for use by all ratepayers. Under
the Aquatic Facilities Plan, users of Edgeware Pool will
have access to a city-wide network of first-class facilities
that provide year-round aquatic facilities for a healthy,
active lifestyle. He says Centennial Pool is only 2.37
kilometres from Edgeware Pool and the new aquatic facility
to be operational at Papanui by 2009 will be only 4.45km
from Edgeware. "The redeveloped Jellie Park facility will
provide residents with both indoor and outdoor aquatic
facilities. This opens in May 2008. "Council had listened
to the community through its extensive consultation process
on the Aquatic Facilities Plan, LTCCP process and subsequent
deputations and proposals. "With the Council last month
standing behind its original decision to close Edgeware Pool
and dispose of the land, it was paramount the health and
safety risks were removed, ensuring the pool posed no risk
to the community." He said the floor of the pool tank was
perforated and broken up, then the walls collapsed into the
middle of the pool, before being covered with soil from the
embankment to remove all health and safety risks.
Ends