Mewsbrook Safety Improvements

Arun District Council is spending almost 80,000 on the improvements, which include repairs to the crumbling concrete edge of Mewsbrook Park boating lake, shrub barriers, and three areas of fenced off decking to allow safer access to the waterside.

The scheme is going ahead following a series of recommendations to Arun from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, which investigated the circumstances surrounding the death of two-year-old Alexander Clark.

He drowned in the lake after walking, unnoticed, from a toddler and parent activity session at the nearby Sportsdome in June, 2001.

Last year, Arun put up knee-high fencing round the lake after 18-month-old Jemma Lecuyer plunged into the water when her pushchair slid down a grass bank.

Her parents were critical of delays in carrying out the safety work recommended by RoSPA.

Henfield contractors J. T. Mackley and Co are expected to take seven weeks to complete the work, which started last Monday and will cost 78,250. Arun's parks and landscapes department worked with its engineering section to design the scheme.

Plants in the new shrub beds, intended to deter people from going too near the water, have been specially chosen to withstand the harsh seaside climate and often strong onshore winds.

Some paths may have to be closed for public safety during the work.

As well as the safety improvements, new information signs will be set up at the park's entrances, giving details of its history, and a map showing its main features.

Arun council leader Norman Dingemans apologised for any inconvenience caused by the works and stressed that every effort would be made to keep disturbance to visitors and to wildlife to a minimum. "I am sure the end result will be worth the disturbance."