Council confident Nayland Pool safe despite knife incidents

Claims of people being threatened with knives at Nayland Pool have stoked a frenzy on social media, but Nelson City Council is confident its contractor is maintaining a safe environment.

Shelley Bishop posted in a Facebook community group about an experience that her friend had at the pool on Sunday, 19 November.

She says a group of young teens had pulled a knife out and, after pool staff were alerted, beat the 6-year-old child who had let staff know in the changing room.

“These kids are entering the complex with knives, screwdrivers, and hammers in their bags,” Shelley claims. “They have absolutely no fear of adult authority, they will threaten to stab you, they don’t care. I want to see these kids completely banned from the premises.”

Her post caused a wave of outrage and Shelley says four other people have reached out to her and shared similar experiences.

One woman told Local Democracy Reporting that kids threw chunks of concrete into the pool during a visit last summer and, when her husband told them not to, they threatened to stab him.

She says she is “really shocked” to hear the behaviour is still occurring this season.

“We’re not going to use Nayland Pool this year, which is a real shame, it’s a great facility,” she says.

Both women want stronger enforcement from pool staff and the kids banned from the pool.

“Every family has the right to be there and enjoy their day,” Shelley says.

Council’s group manager community services Andrew White says, they are aware of the incident on 19 November.

“We take any incident like this very seriously,” he says. “Having spoken to CLM staff about the incident, we are confident that they handled the incident to a high professional standard.”

He adds that the knife involved was a butter knife and that the child who held it up was trespassed for a day.

“As there was no threat to public safety, [council’s pool contractor] CLM management did not contact the police.”

The pool hosts about 35,000 visitors during the five months it’s open each year.

Andrew says there were just two recorded incidents last summer, one of which required staff to call the police. Pool staff met with police and Whanake Youth to discuss strategies around conflict and young people ahead of this summer season.

“Staff have been forging close relationships with young people at the pool to maintain a safe atmosphere,” Andrew says.

Kai Rescue also delivers free fruit to the pool, “which can help calm things down on a hot day”.

Andrew says that the council is in contact with CLM daily and is immediately contacted after serious incidents, which the police are informed of “when necessary”.

Safety incidents are also discussed in monthly meetings.

“Staff will continue to monitor the park, including changing rooms. There will also be a security guard onsite on Saturday afternoons,” he says.

“We have every confidence that CLM and Nayland Pool will deliver another fun and safe summer season, as they do each year.”