Little chance seen for ‘play-pen’ plan

Press, 1 March 1982, Page 6

Little chance seen for ‘play-pen’ plan

The Heathcote County Council will probably rejectCr 0. T. Alpers’ controversial “play-pen" proposal for a “more popular” solution to the'problem of swimming poo] safety. The proposed by-law rules that a fenced area of no less than 40 square metres be provided in every household with a child under five years of age. The proposal was one of four being considered by the council, Or. Alpers said. The other alternatives were: to rule that all swimming pools be fenced, to rule that, swimming pools to households with young children be fenced, or to do nothing, he said. ' * If national statistics on the number of young children drowned .in private swimming pools were applied to Heathcote County, only one

child was likely to drown in 40 years, he said. , “To enclose swimming -pools is an awful lot of fencing just to achieve the saving of that life.” he said. . More young children were run over by cars, he said. He proposed the "playpen” regulation because it would be more cost-efficient than merely to fence swimming pools. It would, however, affect every household with young children, not just those’ with swimming pools. Cr Alpers does not consider his proposal meddlesome. however. “It depends from which point of view you look at it,” he said. “There are plenty of restrictions on people’s liberties in the interests of safety, and children cannot be watched all their “waking hours."

He acknowledged that the regulation was not likely to be popular with ratepayers and that the council was likely to reject it for this reason. “It is more likely to pay heed to the anguished cries of ratepayers who do not want to spend the sort of money that the play-pens would' cost,” he said. He thought that the council was likely to do nothing, or to rule that swimming pools be fenced if there were young children in the household. "But if your prime consideration was the safety of children, you would probably go the whole hog,” he said. The real question facing the council was whose interests were to be looked after: “Is it the children or is it the ratepayers?” he said.