The municipality of West Elgin has amended one of their by-laws, providing new standards for fences around above ground swimming pools.
The issue had been brought forward about the fencing of swimming pools in rural areas of the municipality, and why swimming pools are required to be fenced when ponds, portable pools, and water gardens are not required to be fenced. The old by-law didn’t have any specific regulations regarding above ground pools.
The municipal council decided Jan. 26 to have above ground pools fall under the same swimming pool fence regulations, with some exceptions.
The regulations say that every swimming pool shall be enclosed by a swimming pool fence, which shall extend from the ground to a height of not less than 153 centimetres. The amendments to the by-law say that the swimming pool fence regulations do not apply to above ground pools if the pool wall is equal or greater than 1.2 meters above grade, if a guard not less than one meter high is provided around any platform or deck, if the outside of the swimming pool structure is closer than 1.2 meters to any lot line, and if the point where a person gains access to the pool is protected by a gated enclosure, which meets requirements outlined in the by-law.
“What this does is address the standards for above ground swimming pools,” said Norma Bryant, municipal clerk. “If these standards aren’t met, then they have to have a fence and they have to go through the application process.”
The complete pool fence by-law, and the municipal council agenda from Jan. 26 which outlines the recommended changes, may be found at http://www.elginconnects.ca.
Article ID# 3466328
