High Court Judgement: Pool Fencing

A good result has been achieved in respect to the Declaratory Judgment proceedings.

The following is summary of the pertinent points with the full judgement following.

The Waitakere Council's submission that recreational or entertainment areas could not form part of the immediate pool area was rejected (para 32 and 33 of the judgment).
His Honour held that at some point the area will cease to be "immediate". However a much more liberal interpretation of the immediate pool area is to be adopted than currently applied by the Council (para 37).
His Honour also confirmed that parental supervision is a very important factor in child safety (para 37).
While noting unsatisfactory inconsistencies between the schedule to the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act and the Building Code, his Honour recognised that sliding doors are automatically exempted from the requirements of locking mechanisms contained in clause F.3.4.5, provided the sliding doors were capable of restricting the access of children under 6 years of age to the immediate pool area (para 49(d)).
As a consequence the Court refused to grant the declaration in the form sought by the Waitakere Council.

Click here to download the judgement.