14
SPN OCT 2011 IndustryNews
www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk
‘NO LEGAL REQUIREMENT FOR SAFETY SIGNS’ RULING ENDS £6M COMPENSATION CLAIM
A High Court judge has ruled that a teenager who was paralysed in a late night swimming accident chose voluntarily to dive in, knowing the risks involved.
LIDO GIVEN LISTED STATUS THWARTS DEVELOPMENT PLANS
Developers of a multi-million-pound project are to appeal a decision to award an outdoor swimming pool listed status. English Heritage has given Grange lido in Cumbria Grade II listed status following a campaign to stop it being filled in.
Some local people have backed the move, but others warned the lido is not fit for use and must be demolished. Three years ago plans were drawn up to redevelop the derelict lido as a leisure area, with public garden, dance and fitness studio, café, office suite and craft studios. The listed status was secured following the efforts of Phil Bradby – boss of a company that specialises in the restoration of historic architecture – to preserve the lido.
Jonathan Denby, Chairman of Berners Vision Partnership said the listed status could be overturned if the lido was proven beyond repair. He now has 28 days to submit the appeal. He said: “It’s completely derelict. All the concrete is gone, it’s well past its natural life, but, more importantly, all the little metal tanks that hold the seawater have corroded.
“And even if it was restored, it would only be in use for a certain number of days a year (during hot weather) and you can’t run a commercial venture and pay for the running costs on an enormous pool like this on the basis of a few days in the year.”
A Save Grange Lido Facebook page has attracted over 600 followers.
Kylie Grimes was left paralysed from the chest down after hitting her head diving into a pool at a friend’s house. Mrs Justice Thirlwall said she had suffered ‘catastrophic’ consequences from the misjudged dive, but ruled it would not be fair to allow her to sue the pool’s owner – her friend’s father – for £6m in compensation. Mrs Justice Thirlwall said: “She was an adult. She did something which carried an obvious risk. She chose, voluntarily, to dive when, how and where she did, knowing the risks involved.”
The case has been closely monitored by the specialist trade as it was seen to test the current legal liability implications.
Kylie Grimes, now 23, hit the bottom of the pool with such force that she broke a vertebra below the base of her neck. She has lost the use of her arms and legs and is confined to a wheelchair.
An ‘accomplished swimmer’ before the accident, she had drunk three or four small glasses of wine before the dive, but was not drunk. Other teenagers at the party, at the home of businessman David Hawkins, were jumping and ‘bombing’ into the 30ft heated indoor pool, the High Court in London heard.
Mr Hawkins and his wife were not at home on the night of the party in August 2006. They had given permission for their 18-year-old daughter Katie to invite two friends to stay the night, and later said another two friends could stay. But around 20 teenagers ended up at the house in an exclusive area of Farnham, after Miss Hawkins met up with friends from her sixth-form college at a nearby pub.
The court heard that Miss Hawkins had handed a bikini top and tracksuit bottoms to Miss Grimes so she could go swimming.
The teenager, a keen horse rider and school athlete, swam for around 30 minutes before getting out, then re-entered the pool in a ‘shallow racing dive’.
The judge said the dive must have been steeper than she thought, as she hit the bottom and immediately told friends her legs were not working properly.
Miss Grimes sued Mr Hawkins claiming he was negligent because there were no signs warning against diving. Her lawyers said the combination of a teenage party and an unlocked swimming pool was ‘a recipe for disaster’.
But lawyers for Mr Hawkins said there was no legal requirement for such signs on a private pool and that other people, including his own teenage daughters, had dived there safely.
ZEOCLERE OFFERS LONG TERM SOLUTION FOR POOL COMPLEX
Zeoclere, a high-grade mineral for use in swimming pool filters, has scored a big success with one of Yorkshire’s most prestigious health club pools.
Sam Taylor who is Facility Maintenance Manager at the popular Village Hotel and Health Club in Headingley North Leeds, with a 25m heated indoor pool, as well as steam room, sauna and whirlpool spas a committed fan of the way the mineral has helped his pools. Sam has been managing the leisure facility for 13 years: “We have 5,500 members who use the pool and spa on a daily basis. Some of our members are handicapped
and we have a pool bather load of between 800-1,000 per day. The 8 -12 person whirlpool spa is open from 6.30am to 11.00pm daily and has an 8% occupancy rate, so we have to ensure the water is healthy at all times.
“It had been a battle to ensure the water quality in both the pool and spa was up to acceptable standards. Good filtration is always the key and around six years ago we were offered to trial a glass filter media rather than the sand that was then in use. We did and we were less than happy with the performance. We decided to change back to sand when
someone suggested trying a product called Zeoclere.”
Zeoclere is a high-grade zeolitic mineral specifically for use in swimming pool pressure or gravity filters. It has a purity of between 80- 85%. The clear up rate using Zeoclere is faster than silica. Sam continues: “It has now been five years since we changed to Zeoclere. We first tested the product in the spa and then the pool and are extremely happy with the outcome. There is no odour whatsoever in the pool hall and we regenerate the Zeoclere for the pool once a year and the spa on a weekly basis using sodium hypo.
The pool is run using a combination of calcium hypo and Jolly Gel; which gives us great water clarity. Combined levels in the spa are run at 0.4 – 0.6.
“Even after five years there is no sign of the Zeoclere aging or clumping together. As well as saving time, money and energy we are very proud to say that our local environmental health officers now use Headingley as a benchmark for other leisure facilities.”
i FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
F MSI ( 01825 790524 :
www.zeoclere.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92