A council which banned bouncy castles due to health and safety concerns has now made a U-turn but issued a raft of new guidelines.
Highland Council recently announced that inflatables, such as bouncy castles and slides, would be banned from the council and High Life Highland premises.
Officials said they were putting a ” foreseeable pause” on the hiring of inflatables because of concerns about accidents.
However, in response to mounting pressure, the council has reviewed the decision and said new conditions will be put in place to permit their use.
Operators will be required to carry out a risk assessment and hold appropriate insurance ahead of each event to ensure safety is maintained at all times.
A council spokesman said: “The new conditions of let are intended to enable the council to ensure that for any particular event inflatable devices meet all required safety standards; the operators of these devices can show that they have carried out appropriate risk assessments; that they hold the appropriate insurances to cover any risk to users of the equipment and to cover any other risks that can arise from these inflatable devices being used on council premises.”
Safety fears spark widespread ban
The Inverness Courier first covered the ban, reporting that the size of the region was making it difficult for council staff to carry out thorough risk assessments.
While acknowledging the appeal – and demand – for inflatables, the council said they had concern about accidents.
In a previous statement, a spokesman said: “The reality of our wonderful and dynamic landscape is that its considerable size, access to some locations and availability of appropriate staff, creates challenges which mean that is not possible to carry out the checks needed, which occur multiple times a year across a vast estate of over 200 schools.
“Therefore, until we have the structures in place to meet these requirements, a regrettable pause will be placed on the hire of inflatables.”
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