March 2011

 

Government rethinks deadlines

Pool rules in temporary dive

New pool rules take temporary dive

New laws on backburner

By Dennis Amor
  Have your say

ENFORCEMENT of new regulations which will mean tougher swimming pool safety laws for Queensland's caravan parks have been put on the backburner.

The state government has decided not to implement the rules for at least six months in the wake of recent devastating cyclones and some of the worst flooding ever seen in the state.

"We have to rethink our deadlines, have to rethink the requirements we're putting on people so that reconstruction and rebuilding can come first," Premier Anna Bligh said.

The new regulations, introduced last December, require mandatory safety inspections at all caravan parks and give safety inspectors greater powers of entry to undertake checks.

The government argued that new mandatory pool safety certificates and inspections will help save lives and make the state's pools the safest in the country.

Caravan parks sold without a certificate will have to provide buyers with a prescribed notice advising that the pool may be non-compliant.

New owners must then ensure their pools meet the requirements within 90 days of settlement or face fines of up to $1650.

The Pool Safety Council must also be advised that the property transaction was settled without a certificate in place.

The new laws replace an assortment of 11 pool safety standards with a single, uniform approach and are designed to drastically reduce the risk of young children entering pools alone.

In addition to caravan parks, they will also apply to indoor pools and swimming pools associated with hotels, motels, caretaker dwellings and other residential buildings.

Children's portable paddling pools and spas over 300mm deep are not immune from the rules. They will have to be fenced, bringing the state legislation into line with nationwide standards.

The new laws follow a request by the State Government for an expert committee, including Kidsafe, the Royal Lifesaving Society, Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit and the Local Government Association of Queensland, to conduct the largest review of pool laws in almost 20 years.

But Ms Bligh said the government would give flood-hit businesses and homeowners more breathing space by not insisting the new rules be enforced for another six months "to help them get their lives back together".

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