Neighbours' children and ponds

aileth

As others have said, I think if your garden were properly secured then the neighbour would have little recourse to dictate to you about the contents of your garden.

I'd throw up some chicken wire on the gaps whilst you sort out something more permanent, though make sure to cover any sharp edges in case the little dears decide to have a feel.

Fen1

If you are unsure about the situation, how about a bog garden? You could have a range of plants and insect visitors that are threatened in the wild. Bogs are quickly disappearing in the Uk, along with their associated wildlife. A bog garden would be hugely beneficial for the environment, plus safer for any trespassing children.

TBagpuss

You have a responsibilty to take **reasonable** steps to ensure that the garden is safe, even to trespassers.

This does not mean that you have to eliminate any risk. I think that it would be appropriate to ensure that you have a fence round your garden and that you do what you can to prevent children trespassing - so if there would be access from the front garden, consider whether it is possible to put a gate, or something which makes clear that the garden is private, for example. I think that even if the front of your garden is trellis, then having something which creates a visual barrier would be wise, as even if it would not prevent the children getting in it would help show that the area is not part of the shared space.

I would also recommend that you speak to your neighbours and encourage them to put up their own fence, and also to talk to their child(ren) to ensure that the child knows that (a) your garden is off limits and not somewhere they should be playing and (b) that water is dangerous.

I would also suggest that you start reinforcing this by reminding the children that your garden is private and that they should not be coming into it, if you see them on our garden at all.

I do not think that you should have to cover your pond as, as you say, that prevents it being fully used as a wildlife pond

fairy_lights

It's your neighbours responsibility to ensure that; a. They supervise their children when playing in the garden, b. They teach their children not to wander off on to other people's property, and c. They teach their children the dangers of ponds and water.
If your neighbour does that then the pond shouldn't be a problem. Obviously getting a fence is the best long term solution but in the mean time I think it's their responsibility to keep their child safe. To be honest I think it was a bit cheeky of them to even mention covering the pond.

rach_k

As a parent it it 100% my responsibility to ensure that my kids know not to wander off, know not to trespass and that I know where they are. If my child got into a neighbour's pond, I'd blame myself fully, although I'm sure I'd also wish the neighbour had covered it. I still wouldn't blame them unless they had previously encouraged the children to go over there unaccompanied.

As a home-owner, I would be devastated if a child was hurt in my garden. I would know that it wasn't my fault if a child trespassed and was injured or worse but I would still feel guilty if I hadn't made the garden as safe as possible. Not logical but feelings often aren't!

I would wait until the garden is fully fenced before filling in the pond and then inform the neighbours that it is there. Another option might be some kind of grill/mesh that sits above the surface of the water with enough gap between the water surface and the grill to allow animals to access the water from the sides, but not a big enough gap for a child to crawl under the mesh. It wouldn't be very pretty though!

Guest101

I suggest the following:

A sign: 4 foot high, in bright red ( with flood lights ofcourse incase it's dark ) - warning there is a pond in the property.

Also provide life jackets, a rescue ring, a helicopter landing pad should air rescue be required.

Ofcourse a 6 foot wall ( if razor wire is required add warning notice as above )

Perhaps a watchtower with 24/7 monitoring. ( the machine gun is optional as HSE may find there is risk of harm...)

- I guess the days of- 'hi neighbour, I'm putting a pond in my garden, I have no problem with the kids wandering over occasionally, but you might want to keep an eye on them as kids can be curious and ponds abit dangerous. How was your weekend?' - are long gone.

Guest101

TBagpuss wrote: »

You have a responsibilty to take **reasonable** steps to ensure that the garden is safe, even to trespassers.

This does not mean that you have to eliminate any risk. I think that it would be appropriate to ensure that you have a fence round your garden and that you do what you can to prevent children trespassing - so if there would be access from the front garden, consider whether it is possible to put a gate, or something which makes clear that the garden is private, for example. I think that even if the front of your garden is trellis, then having something which creates a visual barrier would be wise, as even if it would not prevent the children getting in it would help show that the area is not part of the shared space.

I would also recommend that you speak to your neighbours and encourage them to put up their own fence, and also to talk to their child(ren) to ensure that the child knows that (a) your garden is off limits and not somewhere they should be playing and (b) that water is dangerous.

I would also suggest that you start reinforcing this by reminding the children that your garden is private and that they should not be coming into it, if you see them on our garden at all.

I do not think that you should have to cover your pond as, as you say, that prevents it being fully used as a wildlife pond

Talk directly to a child?! Are you mad??!!

There should be atleast two independent witnesses at all times...

LannieDuck

Yes it's the parent's responsibility to supervise their children, but my god you'd feel awful if a kid drowned in your pool wouldn't you?

SnooksNJ

If were me and didn't feel confident I could monitor my kids 100% of the time I would spend the £200 and put up my own fence. Instead of asking for a net I would be thanking you for fixing up your yard and offer to take any extra vegetables off you.

Mojisola

Hermoine wrote: »

When this work was being done, I asked for a smallish wildlife pond at the back. This is currently a hole in the earth, and my neighbour has pointed out that he hopes the pond is covered in some way -presumably to make it safe for his small son and the other children.

Whilst I appreciate that it could be dangerous when there isn't a fence between my garden and his garden, and am happy to get something in place until the fence is built, I don't think I should have to have anything like that afterwards. Even though the garden won't be entirely secure, as there won't be any gate at the front, the pond is right at the back, so a child would have to come the whole way down the garden.

LannieDuck wrote: »

Yes it's the parent's responsibility to supervise their children, but my god you'd feel awful if a kid drowned in your pool wouldn't you?

Of course but how far should we be going to protect someone else's child?

Our neighbours had a wildlife pond just the other side of the fence while our children were small. It wouldn't have occurred to me to ask him to cover it over. We used to sit and watch the wildlife using it and talked about the dangers of falling in water, just as we taught them not to eat wild stuff without checking that it was safe and so on.