FENCING the adventure playground to avoid a potential tragedy is a "no brainer", says one Bathurst councillor - more than a decade after a previous council first voted down the proposal.
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The question of a fence was one of the burning topics after Bathurst Regional Council commissioned the $1 million playground in 2009, but park planners at the time argued strongly against the idea.
Playground consultant Ric McConaghy told council that the attractions in the playground and the fact it was set well back from busy Durham Street meant a fence was not needed.
After weeks of debate council finally agreed, instead opting for garden beds and high grasses that were designed to act as a natural barrier between the park and the road.
But the issue has not gone away and Councillor Alex Christian has told council that parents of young children are still approaching him, concerned a young child could run from the playground on to the road.
He said he had also taken a look at the playground and shared the parents' fears.
I just think it's a no brainer when you've got a bunch of small children running around a playground near a busy road.
- Bathurst councillor Alex Christian
"They do feel like they need a fence there, particularly when there's lots of people there and it's busy," he said.
"I think most people would agree that keeping their eye on their child 24 hours a day, every second of the day, it's just not reality and it will take just one kid to run on to that road, on to Durham Street, and we all look like clowns.
"... I just think it's a no brainer when you've got a bunch of small children running around a playground near a busy road."
Engineering director Darren Sturgiss said the issue had been considered "on a number of occasions" with council deciding against a fence each time.
"The essential reason is that there's no substitute for parental responsibility for the supervision of kids and that includes being active with that and not relying on a fence," Mr Sturgiss said.
But Cr Christian was undeterred, saying he "can't believe" a previous council could have come to that decision.
"It's almost unbelievable when you've got such a busy road such as Durham Street going out to Eglinton Road," he said.
Cr Warren Aubin, who was on Bathurst Regional Council when the adventure playground was built in 2009, confirmed the advice from Mr McConaghy at the time was "don't fence it".
"He said kids who go to a playground don't want to leave a playground (so) it doesn't need fencing," Cr Aubin said.
