Council agrees to fund £10k works

In the first meeting since becoming a UKIP majority, the council unanimously voted to pay estimated costs of £10,000 to fund the works to the parkour area on the site in Crabtree Lane, after a boy hit his head while using the facility.

The incident this year led to the Health and Safety Executive issuing a notice of improvement to the council, to put safety measures in place by July 30 or close the park down.

Newly elected chairman Gloria Eveleigh said: “There is a need for the facility because this is the only teenage activity of this sort in Lancing, and it would be a shame to lose that. In this instance, I really don’t think we have time to take this to a formal consultation. We have to make a decision now.”

Parkour, also known as free-running, is best known as a sport where users leap from one obstacle to another in the fastest and most efficient way.

The new surfacing being looked at is known as ‘Impact Observant Surfacing’, which is a form of sponging that will be layered four inches deep across the ground.

Colin Hunt, clerk to the council, said: “What HSE are looking at is for us to exercise due diligence and duty of care.”

The incident is the first since the opening of the site in 2011.

A spokesman for HSE confirmed that an inspector had viewed the site and had issued an improvement notice, but had not detailed the specific material to be used.

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