BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

Press Release POAG (Pool Owners Action Group)
Spokesperson Gary Osborne

Isn't it amazing how democracy and bureaucracy work! 8 months ago I was banned from mentioning swimming pools or stormwater ponds at Council Meetings. Waitakere City Council has sought a declaratory judgement set down for early August because it is unsure of the meaning of "immediate pool area". Yet on Wednesday, at ratepayers' expense, in the Aucklander, it took out an advertisement claiming "Every year around six children drown in home swimming pools or spas."

Over the last ten years, 40 preschoolers have drowned in home swimming pools or spas throughout New Zealand. That's an average of four in anyone's arithmetic! A 50% error is a monumental miscalculation yet such statistics are being used to persuade law-abiding ratepayers that they are petty criminals.

The advertisement further states "to make pools less dangerous for Waitakere City families." Over the last 2 and a half years the Waitakere City Council has used ratepayer money to clobber its swimming pool owner ratepayers with prosecution notices regarding uncertain claims.

The number of prosecution notices issued in Waitakere City was:-
2002 297
2003 144
2004(to date) 113

The number of drownings of pre-schoolers in that period is:-
2002 0
2003 0
2004 0

Could it be that the perceived danger has been grossly exaggerated?

Let the Waitakere City Council concentrate on real dangers such as the Huruhuru Stream or the completely unfenced Danica Esplanade Stormwater Pond of which Tony Miguel said "Fencing of the pond was considered, but decided against on the basis that the fence would diminish enjoyment of the landscape and amenity value for those walking the track."

ENDS

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