ACTION needs to be taken to stop children climbing up and over the culvert in Brook Road Park before there is a serious accident, a councillor has claimed.
Coun Peter McDonald said youngsters playing in the area had been climbing the rails of the culvert not seeing the danger they were putting themselves in.
Coun McDonald has now called on Bromsgrove District Council to improve the fencing around the culvert before there is a ‘nasty accident’.
He added the children, some who were younger than ten years old, saw it as nothing but a bit of an adventure.
Coun McDonald said the council had installed what could only be described as decorative railings and at just 4ft high acted as nothing but a stepping stone to get over into the culvert.
“The railings do not act as a barrier and make it easy for any young child to access the culvert which is just not acceptable,” he added.
“The council has a responsibility to make sure young people cannot access the culvert, which they are clearly failing to do at the moment.
“The council has acted in an irresponsible manner by not taking the situation seriously – this is a very serious situation and I have called upon the council to act immediately.”
A council spokeswoman said as soon as the issue was raised the council reported it to Worcestershire County Council as the culvert was its asset.
She added they had been told the county council were now reviewing if any actions were needed on the culvert itself.
She said the district council had inspected the water course as part of its Open Water Risk Assessments in line with nationally recognised RoSPA standards.
And, the barrier fencing had been installed in two sections where there were gaps in the hedgerow near to the culvert to prevent easy access.
This barrier has brought the risk assessment into the lower risk level scoring and it required on-going maintenance, she added.
“The type of fencing has been chosen for its robust nature and after consultation with local residents,” the spokeswoman said.
“We will continue to encourage the county council to review the inspection of their asset and apply any mitigation they deem necessary.”
