Putting up 6ft pool in public park - no garden

[itsgettingweird]

I really can't work out if I am or not!

I live in a street that's not quiet but not busy either. There is a public park that has loads of grass and a small play area and also lots if public open spaces.

Someone from flats adjacent to park has put up a 6ft swimming pool in the park. It's close to the play equipment meaning parents can't sit on bench by swings when their children play due to SD.

It's unsupervised and currently about 6 local kids in it (not sure if owner of pools kids or just locals or mixture of both)
It's not the mixing that concerns me.

But AIBU to think this isn't safe anyway but you really shouldn't do this as you then take over a public space when the whole family is there like they did yesterday evening?

There is a space that's a bit no lands land between park and flats that has a wooden fence (just like the single barrier) around it and I think if they'd put it there it wouldn't be so bad?)

I'm completely torn between thinking the kids need some fun after lockdown and constantly looking out of my window to check they're safe as no other adult around and the effect this is having on me relaxing.

So AIBU to think they shouldn't put it there?

I'm also in Australia and am just agape at some of the responses on here! A child can drown so quickly, and in very shallow water. Here all pools deeper than 30 cm deep must be securely fenced, and the shire checks the fence every two years to ensure the gate is self closing, kid proof etc. Anyone breaking the rules gets a hefty fine.

Apart from that, its sounds like a Covid risk, and pretty minging in general. You did the right thing reporting it.

I'm also in Australia and am just agape at some of the responses on here!

Mind boggling isn't it. Thank goodness we are more sensible about drowning risk down-under. I'm glad to hear it is sorted OP, and you definitely did the right thing.

This is the park in the next village to us. Totally open paddling pool, no staff, no fences. It's up to parents to supervise their children
images.app.goo.gl/fwakaXivMtQ6kFZi6

I think the fact it has been placed so close to the kids play park is taking the piss, as is just leaving it there. Fair enough if it was moved and there was adult supervision but it sounds like they are being very cheeky

So did anything happen

Did the police come ?

Is pool still there - with less water due to water flight

[quote EmmaGrundyForPM]This is the park in the next village to us. Totally open paddling pool, no staff, no fences. It's up to parents to supervise their children
images.app.goo.gl/fwakaXivMtQ6kFZi6[/quote]

I don't really take this point. This is a park with a known paddling pool. Some parents may not allow their child to go there alone because of the pool, but they would allow them to go to a park with no pool. The park OP is talking about has no known pool so any parent deciding whether to let their child go to that particular park would base their decision on the equipment they know is provided.

It has to go . Imagine if a child drowned- how would you feel. I looked after a woman whose 3 year old drown in 6 inches of water in a paddling pool. She never recovered

This is the park in the next village to us." Totally open paddling pool, no staff, no fences. It's up to parents to supervise their children*
A permanent splash park that's been built by the council and has to follow health and safety is not the same as someone shoving a large paddling pool on public land and leaving it there.

@Duemarch2021

Nah this is wrong..and i know you said you're not concerned about them mixing but a pool would be worst thing ever for transmitting covid!!! But yeah like u say, so dangerous for a drowning risk x

I think the reason I don't worry so much about covid is because a) children have been proven not really to pass it on and b) we've not had a case in my town for 7 days, we had 6 cases over 10 days before that and none for the previous 16.

Drowning or other bacteria are a much higher risk realistically.

@Blondeshavemorefun

So did anything happen

Did the police come ?

Is pool still there - with less water due to water flight

Park ranger came. Owner saw him looking at it and said he'd move it. Emptied a few hours later and now dumped on no mans land behind bushes. Council emailed me to ask if it had been removed.

I confirmed it had. But didn't dob them in for leaving it!

@cuntryclub

I think if you assess your child as being old enough and responsible enough to go to a park alone then they would be extremely unlikely to drown in a paddling pool. Most parents wouldn't allow a child younger than, say, 8, to be in a park unsupervised. There are sadly many reports of toddlers drowning in a few inches of water but not of older children.

Great user name by the way!

I think if you assess your child as being old enough and responsible enough to go to a park alone then they would be extremely unlikely to drown in a paddling pool.

I think you are wrong.

Definitely unacceptable, phone the council!

No child young enough to drown in 75cm of water should be playing in the park unsurpervised, so I don't think it's as much of a hazard as others do. And I agree that kids need some novelty and fun.

Maybe try to find out who put it up and have a chat with them? If they put it up for their own kids they should be supervising them in it. And if they put it up for communal use then they should empty it when they aren't supervising it and leave a note on it saying they will fill it again at the request of another parent who agrees to supervise it while it's full.

@Localocal

No child young enough to drown in 75cm of water should be playing in the park unsurpervised, so I don't think it's as much of a hazard as others do. And I agree that kids need some novelty and fun.

Maybe try to find out who put it up and have a chat with them? If they put it up for their own kids they should be supervising them in it. And if they put it up for communal use then they should empty it when they aren't supervising it and leave a note on it saying they will fill it again at the request of another parent who agrees to supervise it while it's full.

It's been taken down!

And it takes 2 hours to fill! No one is going to be willing to keep doing that for others to use a pool!

It was out up and left and became a green slime bath

That's more of the issue than drowning but drowning is a risk.

Plus it's so stupid everyone says no one who's old enough to go to a park unsupervised will drown. That's like saying every drowning of anyone over the age of 8 didn't happen because it can't.

I work for an organisation that owns a lot of land. We have responsibility for what happens on our land whether we know about it or not! We do a lot of risk management. Where there is a pool in a park, the landowner (council) knows about it. Where they don’t, they can’t.

EmmaGrundyforPM how would you know the ages of the children playing alone, in groups, in the park? We used to have a small park near us,and there are often children from the age of around 8 or 9 in small groups playing together, without an adult. Just because in your personal opinion they should not be in the park alone next to their own homes, doesn't mean they won't be. Some older children may be small too - my daughter was born premature and has always been small for her age. But in honesty, any child any age or size can drown very quickly if they get into difficulty in the water, and any pool should be supervised properly.

WTF? Get it reported

WTF?Get it reported

WTF? RTFT

Get rid of the death trap! Ignore all these laid back individuals who have no understanding of how quickly and quietly a child can drown. Unbelievable Our Australian friends are flagging up the danger and they are the most laid back individuals and they know their water! Get rid of the damn thing

@Bettyboo1957 RTFT

There would be an "accident" with a sharp knife if it was near me

What if toddler from a different family gets out and drowns in it?! Do they leave it full overnight? I’m in Australia and pools over 300mm deep must be fenced here (rules vary a little depending on local council but that’s my council's rule)

@eaglejulesk

I'm also in Australia and am just agape at some of the responses on here!

Mind boggling isn't it. Thank goodness we are more sensible about drowning risk down-under. I'm glad to hear it is sorted OP, and you definitely did the right thing.

You can’t generalise about an entire population based on the response of a few idiots on a Mumsnet thread.

It was incredibly irresponsible of them to leave the pool up. Like yourself OP, I would have ignored it if they were being properly and consistently supervised AND it was taken down the same day. There would be children going to the park whose parents wouldn’t have known about the pool. It’s so risky.

Not to mention the risk of troublemakers at night deciding to chuck stuff in - broken glass or other things too disgusting to mention!

I’m glad it’s gone!

A paddling pool designed for a garden (steep sides) is not the same kind of pool you might find in a public park, and at least the parents would be aware of the pool before allowing their children to go to the park.

You can’t generalise about an entire population based on the response of a few idiots on a Mumsnet thread.

Maybe not, but there are more than "a few" idiots on this thread! In this part of the world there are strict rules about pools and the fencing of them, and the majority of people understand why these rules are in place. It seems not to be the case in the UK, which is what is so mind boggling.