Sail surfing slammed

PARKS in Rosewood could see a redesign after youths were caught on CCTV climbing on shade sails.

A youth is captured on CCTV climbing on shade sails at Lenihan Park, Rosewood. . Picture: Contributed

PARKS in Rosewood could see a redesign after youths were caught on CCTV climbing on shade sails.

Footage of a teenager climbing across the sails in Rosewood's Lenihan Park last week was captured by the Rosewood City Safe cameras.

Ipswich City Cr David Pahlke said children as young as 12 were risking life and limb to climb on the sails.

"It's an issue all over Ipswich, not just in Rosewood," he said.

"My concern is safety; some of these sails are 30 feet off the ground, if someone fell off they'd be a quadriplegic.

"I know of two parks in my area that it's occurred; the park in Rosewood and Walloon Park."

Cr Pahlke said changes may need to be made to parks to prevent the trend from continuing.

"We need to redesign our parks to stop people from climbing up on top of these sails.

"I've been told it may be as simple as trimming some trees and we might need to put some things on top of the poles so they can't be climbed."

He said apart from the danger, the activity was also causing damage to the sails.

"It stretches them; this one in Rosewood has holes all through it.

"They get on there and jump on them like a trampoline."

Cr Pahlke said he had talked to police about the issue, however, was told they were not committing an offence by climbing on the sails and could only be given a warning, due to their age.

"These are young men with their whole lives ahead of them.

"I have a real concern for their safety," Cr Pahlke said.

Originally published as Sail surfing slammed