Reality Check: Fencing of pools vs ponds

Lifestyle blocks offer plenty of space for a pool, but owners may question why they have to fence it when they don't have to fence other bodies of water on their property - ponds, troughs, dams and creeks.

Matt Claridge of Water Safety New Zealand agrees it seems like an anomaly, but in the past five years 18 preschoolers have drowned in home swimming pools or spa pools, while five have drowned on farms in bodies of water such as ponds, creeks and troughs.

"Discussions are about to start on developing a Pool Fencing Standard, and rural waterways may be included in those, but in reality farm water is usually located some distance from the house, behind stock fences, and if preschoolers are near to them they are there with an adult," says Claridge.

"The problem with swimming and spa pools is that they are located near the house, and the supervision factor is often neglected for the sake of household chores."

It is unlikely there will be any change to the requirement under the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987 that swimming and spa pools on lifestyle blocks and farms be fenced in the same way as city pools.

Sometimes the thought of having to install pool fencing at additional cost, and having to deal with local council requirements, deters people from building a pool at all. But fencing and landscaping can increase the aesthetics of a pool. "It can become an asset to the property, a place for outdoor entertaining and, with correct fencing, a safe place for all the family." There is no legislation requiring the fencing of dams, stock ponds, streams, troughs or sludge ponds.

"Common sense is needed to ensure youngsters do not have unsupervised access to any of these waterways and potential drowning sites," says Claridge.

www.watersafety.org.nz