Concerns have been raised over a newly emerged three foot deep, water filled hole beside an unfenced pond and play area in a York park amid fears a child could drown.
Paul Stevenson, a gardener from York, spotted the unprotected hazard in Rowntree Park, Terry Avenue, and said he was worried that the pond could “easily be mistaken for a puddle”.
City of York Council, which own the park, said one of the two holes is a shallow designated pond dug as part of a long-standing wetland programme scheduled for that particular corner, but temporary barriers have been pulled up.
The council did not comment on the second, newly emerged body of water other than to say teams went out to investigate last week.
Paul was in Rowntree Park with his mother when he came across what he said “could easily be mistaken for puddles” next to a new platform close to the boundary of the park’s children’s playground.
He claimed there were no significant warning or fencing around the new puddle, besides small picket signs at the nearby pond that read “pond – keep out”.
He said: “There were toddlers with rainsuits and wellies running around and it was obvious to me that any child pottering about on the nearby path could be attracted by a big puddle and jump in.
“I had to make the children’s parents aware that these were not puddles and they soon stopped their child from going further.
Safety barriers have been installed around water-filled holes in Rowntree Park
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PAUL STEVENSON
“I think they have had cones around before but there was no sign of that now. The smaller one is about two metres wide and children up to the age of five or six could easily drown.
“Somebody should have put a fence in prior to the dig. It’s an accident, and a lawsuit, waiting to happen”.
Despite concerns for safety, the park remains open, with the ground soaked close to the platform.
Although the shallow pond was full of orange and white traffic cones, the water in the other hole is clear, and the approach gave no sign of its depth until within two metres or so.
The newly emerged water filled hole has been fenced off
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PAUL STEVENSON
Dave Atkinson, director of environmental and regulatory services at City of York Council said: “The shallow pond was dug last year as part of long-standing programme to create a wetland area in this corner of the park.
“Unfortunately, the temporary barriers which were installed previously have been pulled up, but new ones are due to be put in by the end of the month.”
“We will be getting a sign up within the next 24 hours,” he said last week – yet the hazard remains.
The new area fenced off is in fact a “mini-pond” in of itself, which can swell to three-feet deep during heavy rainfall.
Friends of Rowntree Park, the charity which is made up of volunteers who help to care for it, said the wetland habitat is being created partly in response to the area near the Lovell Street entrance of the park becoming increasingly waterlogged.
A spokesperson for the charity said the area now includes a pond with a dipping platform, newly dug scrapes intended to form a connected wetland network and planting of wetland species.
A bridge has been added to allow the area to be crossed, however Friends of Rowntree Park does not manage or maintain the wetland area.
Other locals have mocked the 5x5m barrier installed at the new body of water for being deemed a potential “drowning hazard”, brushing it off as nothing more than a puddle, believing health and safety has “gone mad”.
Small picket signs surround the designated pond, but not the new hole
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Provided
The dismay comes as the park also features the unfenced pond, as well as being a stone’s throw from the River Ouse.
One local said: “Oh give over – there’s a big pond in the park, there’s no fence around that and the path is normally covered in slippy goose poo”.
Another said: “Just to point out there’s a huge duck pond running the whole length of the park with no barriers and you don’t get children drowning in it and its deeper”.