‘You can’t put a price on life’ – petition starter
MONEY MUST NOT STOP CANAL SAFETY
THE woman behind a 30,000-name petition calling for barriers along Manchester’s canals says money should not hold back safety improvements, adding: “You can’t put a price on a life.”
Alona Ainsworth, 29, began her online campaign after the body of missing 19-year-old Charlie Pope, from Ponteland, Northumberland, was recovered from the Rochdale Canal last Friday.
The mental health support worker said: “I didn’t know Charlie. It touched me.
“I just think it is really sad. It can’t happen anymore.”
Asked if the cost of installing railings should be a deterrent, she said: “Absolutely not. You can’t put a price on a life.”
A summit meeting between emergency services, the Canal Trust, Manchester council and the Rochdale Canal Company will take place on Tuesday to review the circumstances of Charlie’s death.
They will also discuss possible safety improvements throughout the canal and river network in the city centre.
The petition on the Change.org website is calling for barriers to be put up across the city waterways after deaths over recent years.
Charlie was doing his studies at the University of Manchester at the time of his death.
His dad Nick visited where his son fell into the water and said he was “astounded” at the lack of safety precautions.
Alona added: “I started the petition because there have been too many deaths in and around canals in Greater Manchester, and it is time something was done about it.
“It is really unsafe. It is really easy for anybody in any circumstance to fall in. The water temperatures are so cold that if you do fall in you have hardly any chance of survival.
“Some barriers would be great, especially around where there are bars and nightclubs. Also creating greater awareness of the dangers by emergency services going into universities to do talks. Coming to a city like Manchester many students will not be aware of the canals – it is really important to get that message out to them.
“I think too, the nightclubs have a responsibility. They could be doing more to raise awareness. Posters could advertise the risk in bars. The door staff have a responsibility as well to tell people to be safe on the way home. I think that safety patrols would be a great idea.
“I will be attending the meeting next Tuesday and I am hoping to get as many names as we can for the petition. I think the issue is very important.”
Bev Hughes, Greater Manchester’s deputy mayor for policing and crime, said the petition shows that canal safety is an issue of real public concern.
She added: “We will pass the petition on to the relevant authorities and I would like to thank those who organised it.
“All of those who signed the petition should know that the issue of canal safety is being taken seriously.”