Fareham councillor to put motion to council over fencing around controversial West Street play area
Councillor Gemma Furnivall is calling for the council to assess options and to release safety assessments
A motion is being presented to Fareham Borough Council tomorrow (October 22) by Councillor Gemma Furnivall asking the council to commission for an “assessment of options” for providing fencing around a controversial play area in Fareham town centre.
The West Street Play Area was reopened a few weeks ago after receiving renovations to play apparatus. However, many parents have voiced their concerns about the fact that the new park has no fencing to enclose it, which some argue poses a risk to child safety.
An independent inspection by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has confirmed that the play area is fundamentally safe.
However, Cllr Furnivall, who has been vocal about her concerns about the park since the plans were released, said she has been unable to see any version of a risk assessment.
“We’ve been asking for nine weeks now for these documents to be provided to us. And they keep telling us we can have them, and then we just don’t get any,” she said.
“If that risk assessment exists, and they’re saying it does, then why are we not allowed to see it? Councillors are entitled to see council documents.”
She decided to start a petition to encourage the council to install fencing, which gained nearly 1000 in 48 hours from parents worried about their children running off in the busy town centre.
She has now proposed a motion to request that the council assess different options for enclosing the park, including “potential designs, indicative costs, accessibility considerations and implications for the surrounding public space”
The motion will be referred to the Executive of the council for consideration, which means it will not be debated by councillors at the full council meeting. However, many concerned parents will still share their thoughts on the park with the councillors at the meeting.
One mother who will be speaking at the meeting has shared that her son was injured at the park over the weekend, and has expressed that any safety assessments cannot be comprehensive.
“There is this soft area underneath the apparatus and then you've got this brick and then basically like paving slabs, like sheet concrete, around the outside,” she said.
“Effectively, you’ve got an ice skating rink starting to form by this new shingle within on top of this sheet concrete. My son's running around, he goes through the grit and loses his balance and goes down and on his paving slab right next to it covered in this grit and it slices straight through his kneecap.”
The mother said she reported her son’s injury to the council, but felt that they did nothing to respond to her worries.
“They should’ve gone back, closed the park, reviewed the risk assessment, before you actually have someone who falls backwards on sheet concrete and you’ve got a head injury,” she said.
“They’ve been actively told by members of the community about the fence, and by me about the grit, and they’ve done nothing. They’re supposed to care.
“I think the fence is the least of their worries at this point, because I can guarantee you at some point someone is going to fall. But, I can’t for the life of me understand why they’ve taken the fence away to then not want to put it back.”
A spokesperon for Fareham Borough council said: “The West Street play area was developed following extensive consultation and engagement with residents, businesses, children and families and was designed with specialist play-area expertise. The proposals were also considered by councillors as they developed, with the final design progressing through the Council's established decision-making process.
“The open design was a deliberate part of creating an accessible play space integrated with the pedestrianised town centre, directly responding to consultation responses. However, we recognise the concerns that have subsequently been raised about fencing and these are being taken seriously. Feedback from people using the play area is continuing to be considered, alongside any practical enhancements that may be appropriate.
“Approximately two weeks ago, a Council officer received a message from a parent that their child had sustained an injury because they had slipped on loose gravel. The Council Officer spoke with the parent to discuss the incident. The parent advised that she was satisfied with how we would use the information provided and did not request any further contact or a follow-up call.”