Stray trampoline prompts call for bylaw
A Hamilton man is calling on council to instigate a bylaw after he was sprung by a stray tramp on Friday.
Brian Burne woke post-storm to find a 10ft trampoline in his backyard tangled among hundreds of his prized fairy lights.
The tramp belonged to the neighbouring kindergarten on Massey Street.
After several heated calls from Burne to the kindergarten’s office in Auckland, and its office in Hamilton, its employees arrived and got to work dismantling the springy contraption – but not before having a good giggle. But Burne is far from amused. He’s urging Hamilton City Council to make residents secure their trampolines.
Not only did the wind-swept tramp wreck his fairy lights, it ruined family tradition.
The lights go up in December every year and come down after his wife’s birthday on February 3.
‘‘They’re bloody lucky there were no kids on it – they could have been really seriously hurt if it took off with them on it.’’
Burne says the same pegs used to secure marquees or circus tents should be used, or something similar. And if residents don’t comply, he wants them to be fined.
‘‘This is the second bloody tramp in four years we’ve had come over our fence.
‘‘The first one belonged to the other neighbour and it smashed into the side of the bloody house.’’
No one was injured in the Friday morning misadventure but, across the country, thousands have lodged claims with ACC for trampoline-related injuries.
Between 2013 and 2017, ACC received more than 57,000 claims.
Last year, 13,296 claims were made -– the highest number in five years. And more than $26.4m was paid out during that same period.
Figures come from information recorded by claimants at the time of the accident that included the word ‘‘trampoline’’.
Hamilton City Council was contacted for comment but did not respond by deadline.