A north-east councillor has criticised health and safety bosses and claimed they have put childrens’ lives at risk by failing to repair a dangerous iron fence.
Emergency repair work is under way at the fence, which surrounds a play area in Aberdeen’s Westburn Park.
Councillor Bill Cormie, the member for the Rosemount and Midstockett ward, revealed he had received several complaints about the fence, at the Cornhill Road side of the park.
Mr Cormie argued that, although temporary fencing has now been put in place after he raised concerns with officers, the repair work was long overdue.
He said: “I brought this to the attention of the council six years ago, and it was agreed that a sum of money would be put aside to fix a section at a time.
“But that work seems to have been stopped by someone altogether.
“I’ve been contacted by several parents to complain about the fence – it’s the school holidays, the park has been very busy. The kids have already managed to bring part of it down.
“The blacksmiths have been there taking it down and putting up a security fence.
“Thankfully nobody has been seriously hurt because that is a very heavy cast-iron fence that’s rotting.
“I’m frustrated because it was first brought up all those years ago and someone has decided to stop it, the whole thing’s going to have to be taken down it’s in such a bad state.
“The council is very lucky that parents have come to me before anyone has been seriously hurt, or worse.”
Last night, a senior city councillor said safety repair work would be carried out in the coming days, with long-term plans to replace it all together on the table.
Councillor Neil Cooney said: “The railings at Westburn Park are to be made safe in the next few days.
“We are presently considering options for their replacement which has been budged for. In the meantime, we will continue to closely monitor their condition.”
