‘Just for spite’: Councillors blame public for playground safety fears

Drama has erupted in a local council after children and elderly people injured themselves on a newly opened playground.

Members of a Sydney council have placed the blame on an elderly woman and business owner after copping complaints for its new playground.

Members of the public reportedly injured themselves after falling into the in-ground trampolines.

More than a dozen complaints have been sent to Sutherland Shire Council over its playground in Cronulla Mall since it opened in September. The playground features a giant whale slide and two in-ground trampolines, which people are reportedly falling into and injuring themselves.

CCTV shows a man on a mobility scooter falling into the in-ground trampoline.

Shortly after the playground’s opening, parents voiced their safety concerns after a child fell through the springs on the trampoline and their legs “disappeared, almost to the knees” and others burned their skin on metal plates used to cover the trampolines during repairs.

As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, other members of the public have since fallen through the trampolines, including an elderly woman who was sent to hospital with a broken nose and bruised face and an elderly man on a mobility scooter who was captured falling into the trampoline on CCTV cameras.

The elderly man drove over the trampolines, losing his balance and wedging himself between the scooter and the ground. Passers-by rushed to his rescue and lifted him back up.

Despite the dozen-plus complaints to Sutherland Shire Council, councillors Carol Provan and Carmelo Pesce lessened the playground’s safety concerns and placed part of the blame on the people who raised concerns.

A councillor claimed the footage was ‘a bit odd’.

During a council debate about a proposed report into the playground’s safety, Mr Pesce, who was formerly mayor until September, accused a shopkeeper of adjusting their CCTV camera to capture playground-related incidents, including the moment the elderly man fell off his scooter.

“The only footage (of the incident) came from a specific shop,” Mr Pesce said, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

“That particular camera never faces that area. Before the incident, it doesn’t face that area (nor) after the incident, so maybe you question why that actually happened.”

The footage came from a local businessman who claimed the CCTV camera had faced the same direction since it was set up more than two decades ago.

“We’ve been here for 21 years, the cameras have been in for at least 20, for obvious security purposes,” he said.

In response, Mr Pesce argued that he never mentioned the shop name, then said the CCTV cameras shouldn’t “be facing into a playground” where children were playing.

In the same council meeting, Ms Provan argued the elderly woman who broke her nose after a fall on the trampoline was only injured because she wasn’t paying attention.

“The rest of the story (is) that she was on her mobile phone and apologised for causing disruption around (her),” Ms Provan said.

Last week, Ms Provan disputed the recorded footage of the elderly man falling in the trampoline with his mobility scooter, claiming it was a “bit odd” and a “set-up”.

Regarding the metal plates, which were used to cover the trampolines during repairs and quickly became hot under the sun, Ms Provan said parents shouldn’t let their children walk on hot surfaces and any injury as a result was not the council’s fault.

There are no shade sails installed over the park, though there are plans to install them between December and January.

“Most mothers would not let their children play on the whale’s tail if it’s very hot down there,” Ms Provan said, adding the people complaining were causing “a lot of drama for no good reason, just for spite”.

Sutherland Shire Council has ben contacted for comment.

Originally published as ‘Just for spite’: Councillors blame public for playground safety fears