Fences Around Pools

I think it's a good safety law that all pools should have a fence around them, and preferable with a high bolt on the gate, so that children aren't able to enter in any way. But, I DO think this should apply to ALL pools and ponds, as children don't sense danger in water, and they do tend to wander. There are too many deaths in England, by water, including garden ponds and public lakes and canals. Canals can't be fenced off really... it would create a great expense but I do think all ponds, lakes and pools should be. Brightest Blessings.

This lilaclady is another non-understanding feature of the law and you have raised a good point here. We at the moment are in the process of having to add an extension to out already 6 foot high fence because we have the fence "rungs" I think that is what you call it, on our side of the fence and our neighbours have just recently put in a pool right beside the fence, this has to be done. Mind you a swimming pool in drought times.....ummm! The extension has to be a metre high and cannot be lattice or anything that children can put their fingers in, so trying to find something to suit is quite a challenge as the fence already being so high and the strength of the winds out here we already prop it up. lol And they are only 5 years old.

No Lilaclady, I don't get it either. Here in Victoria there was a case of a man buying a property with a pool. He demolished the existing house and rebuilt it. In the process his backyard was turned into a building site and he also had a pool which had no fence around it because it was empty. A small boy went for a wander one day and fell into the pool and drowned as it had since filled up with rain water. What I don't understand is - where were the parents during all this. Don't they keep an eye on their kids and know where they are? I think parents should take a lot more responsibility, it seems that everyone else is to blame except them. lol

Well that does seem strange. I can appreciate the sense of having a law fencing in any water for the safety of children, but why that doesn't apply also to lakes in public parks seems very odd to me. As DarkWing said, we often have tragedies here in the UK when children are drowned in household ponds etc, so I think the Australian law is a very good one.

I know what you mean about the parks with lakes and ponds. They should have a fence around them. Even if it is a small one so children know not to go in them. It is the parents responsability to keep an eye on their cildren while they are at the park and be with them when they are near the water. But fences around your pool at home is reasonable enough to understand as there are less parents around than there is at a park.

I completely agree with you about the fencing laws here in Australia. It doesn't make sense to fence a pool in our backyard, yet ponds and lakes in public places are not fenced; they are just as dangerous to our children. Parents shouldn't take their eyes off their children around water anyway. I realize it would be a great expense for public water areas to be fenced, but there must be a solution. Good discussion lilaclady.

In the USA, many different states do their own thing. Some require a fence, other states do not. I think it is a good idea, as little toddlers won't climb it as fast as a child, and that is some help.

I dont understand it either.We also have to have a fence around the yard if you have a pool in your back yard. But if you have a pond you dont have to have a fence. There are a lot of people that live here that have ponds and they are not fenced off.

I don't get it either hon. You'd think that since they could enforce that kind of safety law for a person's own home, they could do the same in a public area where the danger is even higher of a child, or even an adult, getting hurt or worse.

yes, fences are always a good idea with structures such as pools, not just for children, but adults, and even some animals that may be wandering around in the night and fall in. Our neighbor down the block found his cat floating in thier pool one morning, altho they have no idea how this happened

I don't get it eaither although we have the same law here that if you have a pool it has to have a fence around it. It does seem odd that the same rule doesn't apply to ponds and lakes like you said. AT PEACE WITHIN

It's not just fences that are needed in parks and so on, it's lifeguards! In Ontario, my partners father runs a park. They have a pool, this pool has a secure fence round it, along with a pool house AND lifeguards are there at all times. Same with the lake. The lake unfortunately, is too big to be fenced off, but there are warning signs everywhere that it's deep, and that kids need to be supervised at all times. I've seen so many lakes and ponds that don't have these warning signs and it never fails to amaze me. Some parents just don't watch their kids as it is, and if their child drowns, it'll be the park owner that gets sued for not having appropriate warnings or safety measures.

Hmmmm...i agree with u and with wat u said! We have a swimmingpool in our building wiothout fences and we have been telling builder to put in for security reasons. I too feel why to take a chance and let an accident happen for us too learn something, instead why dont we take early precautions...neways my problem is still on stay as the work in not in his scope, but i doo agree with u and hope the law firms get a more serious as far as security of the citizen is concerned! cheeerrrs!

hi lilaclady I have also felt this way about pool fencing, when I was younger and would stay at my nanna house who had a pool and got a hefty fine for leaving the gate open, which made them laugh because across the road was the ocean and one house down was a lake. Silly really

I don't get it that you have to have a fence around your pool even when your yard is fenced. But what it boils down to is that parents don't watch their children like they should so they make laws to protect kids since there are parents that don't. I would think public places would be subject to that law if private places are! It's stupid really that they aren't. Like you..I don't get it!

I would have thought it would make perfect sense to have all ponds, pools and lakes fenced in public spaces. It is so dangerous when you have any water features in public parks, where children are running around playing, anything could happen and it would happen so quickly too.

The swimming pool can be a really dangerous place for kids. They can easily get drowned if unsupervised. In my country, public swimming pools and even private swimming pools do not have to erect any security fences around them. We do have some drowning cases from time to time. I wonder whether the fences are good enough or a swimming pools must be supervised at all time.

Yes! I think it's dangerous to have ponds by playgrounds and no fencing. Here where we live, there is a playground my kids like to go to, but I rarely ever take them to it, because there is a huge pond right next to it, all it would take would be for them to fall and roll a little and they'd be in! And since I have four kids I feel too nervous because I might miss one of them going near it if one of the others has a problem. I don't get it either. I think it would be a good safety measure for them to fence those areas too.

Yes I do agree wiht you on having fences around your personal pool as there must be privacy of enjoying and relaxing.

I can see some logic in all of this. You see in these public places there tends to be a lot more people around, and as such usually many more chances to help someone if they get in trouble in the water. In private yards some unwatchful parent next door might not realize their child snuck over to the neighbors pool. The pool owner not knowing to even LOOK for the kid, wouldn't notice (if they were even at home) and the kid might drown. It's simple, if a little odd.