Eastbourne mini golf course director addresses park fence concerns
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Fencing, which has been erected in Princes Park around Princes Mini Golf’s course, has concerned some residents in the town.
Eastbourne Borough Council said: “The fence is predominantly in place for safety reasons, particularly when grass cutting is taking place using a ride-on mower.”
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Hide AdDespite this, Eastbourne resident Mike Ward said a ride-on mower has been used on the site for around 20 years and that there has never been an accident.
The retired resident, who lives near the park, added: “Large numbers of people enter the park via the Channel View Road entrance, walk past the cafe and across the putting green to the attractions and return via the same route. Now they will have to go through a small gate. I do wonder what would happen if [there] was an emergency requiring evacuation of the attractions site?”
Mr Ward said he believes fewer people have been using the park because of the fence.
He added: “People are furious, absolutely furious. It has been noticeable in the last few days, since the fence went up, that there are substantially less people in the park.
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Hide Ad“I think they have to go back to the planning stage, review the whole thing.”
Despite concerns from some Eastbourne residents, a number of people have voiced their support for the new mini golf course on social media.
Golf course director Yasin Abbas said the fence has been erected due to health and safety concerns.
He added: “We can’t have dog walkers and [the] public walking across while heavy machinery is [being] operated. These are modern times, we have to think of health and safety things [that] have significantly changed over the years. The onus and liability is on us as operators. We have to think of the public first and foremost .
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Hide Ad“The public can still enter through Channel View Road [and] use the footpath instead of walking through the course, which they wouldn’t be able to do anyway if people were playing on the course. The main issue is that the public can't take a shortcut. Us as operators of the mini golf would be held liable for any accident that occurs if we hadn’t of gone down this route.
“As for the fence, we have got more work done since the fence has been erected than in [the last] nine months.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the public [for] their overwhelming support and messages for this venture, and we genuinely apologise to those we have upset.”