After Gore District Council was charged earlier this year over the death by drowning of toddler Lachlan Jones at its wastewater plant in January 2019, Clutha District Council initiated a review of its own facilities.
The 3-year-old died after entering the Gore plant’s wastewater ponds, having gone missing from his nearby home.
Clutha service delivery group manager Jules Witt told the West Otago Community Board at its meeting in Tapanui yesterday the council would be fencing all 18 of its facilities containing potentially dangerous bodies of water.
At present, security at the sites — mostly wastewater plants and reservoirs — ranged from basic stock fencing and gates to higher-grade fencing.
The project aimed to upgrade fencing according to a detailed risk assessment the council had conducted, he said.
"We’re taking into account how close facilities are to residential areas, and other factors, in order to make sure we’re up to scratch and security is appropriate."
That was likely to entail a minimum of 2m deer fencing at most sites in future, he said.
"Obviously we don’t want to see another terrible incident like the one in Gore, although you can’t mitigate against an individual who’s determined to get in.
"We feel we’ve been secured to the acceptable standard to date, but expectations have now changed, and we want to do everything we can to ensure the future public safety."
He said the project was "proactive" rather than reactive.
"There’s no evidence people have been accessing the sites up till now, and there have been no incidents of harm reported.
"We’d like to keep it that way."
The council had applied for funding of $400,000 for the project, from the Government’s recent Three Waters stimulus and reform package.
Mr Witt encouraged the board to alert local contractors to the project, for which elements would be allocated shortly.
He expected work to begin by November.
