Paddling pool barred by elf ’n’ safety... in case burglars drown!
CLUBBING together to buy a giant paddling pool seemed the perfect way for a group of neighbours to keep cool in the heatwave.
But that was without reckoning on the health and safety zeal of housing managers. They ordered the residents in the block of six flats to remove the 12ft pool from their communal garden – in case burglars fall in and drown.
Officials at mhs Homes, which runs the properties in Strood, Kent, then backtracked to say the £64 pool could stay if it was emptied each night.
Resident Maria Young, 47, said: ‘A team came and said initially we’d have to get rid of it. They then changed their mind and said we had to put it down each night for health and safety issues.
‘They said if someone breaks in they might drown in the pool.
‘I don’t know what the problem is, we have a really nice block where everyone gets on and this is a nice way to enjoy the sunshine. We sit out the back together and socialise. It’s completely enclosed. There’s a field running across the back. It’s fun for the kids.
‘It’s better being out in the fresh air than stuck indoors. There’s no way I’m taking it down. They’ll have to carry me out lying in it.’
The pool holds 15,000 gallons and takes three hours to fill so doing this daily would be time-consuming as well as wasting water.
The problem arose when a security gate broke, meaning that outsiders could get into the communal garden. The residents were also warned that children risk falling into the water.
Housing manager Colette McKenney said: ‘The pool is on land owned by us and we’re responsible for everyone’s safety. We don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, which is why we’re going to talk about trying to make this safe.’
The housing association has since said that it will consider allowing the neighbours to keep the pool if it is surrounded by a locked fence.