Dad’s drowning fears over subdivision storm ponds

MAIA HART

Local Democracy Reporter

Fears a child could drown in a Blenheim subdivision’s floodprone stormwater ponds have prompted a neighbour to call for fencing.

The Blenheim man, who did not want to be named, contacted the Marlborough District Council with concerns about the stormwater ponds in the Rose Manor subdivision late last year.

Four months later, in April, he contacted the council again. It was then council’s operations and maintenance engineer Stephen Rooney said he would not comment until he had “sought a legal opinion”.

The resident compared the ponds to a swimming pool. When it rained, the ponds tended to flood, he says.

Under the Building Act, any pool capable of holding 400mm of water had to be fenced. This included “temporary” inflatable pools.

“How is this any different to a swimming pool?” the resident asks. “Let’s say we were next door, and we owned this pond, it would have to be lined, it would have to be fenced. They would have to do inspections.”

The man has two young children and was concerned about other children too. “Our eldest wanted to go in there, and we had to say, ‘you are never allowed in there’.”

As part of the subdivision, the developer had to design and construct the drain and sewerage system, with the council taking it over once it was built.

The reserve, which catered to the 190 homes and sections at the development, was designed for a one-in-50-year weather event. While water was not always built