A pair of sisters say they will chain themselves to a children's trampoline to stop it being take away by their local council. A health and safety row has erupted after residents clubbed together to buy the £600 piece of equipment for children to play on.
The council said it can't risk the implications of someone being injured, but the residents said they offered to sign a document taking responsibility for safety. The latest development reportedly saw four officers from the council attempt to remove the equipment on Wednesday.
Mum Melissa Jamie and sister Katie Carter were out all day in protest, telling the officers: "If you touch the trampoline, you'll have to pay us."
They and two other families saved up for seven months to buy the trampoline. It can be used by up to nine children at a time.
Yesterday, Melissa told BirminghamLive: "I already said I'm not removing it, I will get a few chains and chain it to the post - and chain ourselves to it as well.
"They were supposed to take it, but when they came out we warned them not to touch the trampoline, we said 'touch it and you will have to pay us'. They say they cannot afford for someone to sue them over any potential injuries.
"They said 'if anyone's hurt, you will sue the council'. We have even said we will sign something to waive it, that if someone does get hurt, we will be fully responsible."
During the visit to the scene in Kineton Croft, Bartley Green, Birmingham, the mums were told the trampoline - bought to try to keep their kids out of danger - had to be removed.
Melissa added: "I told them they will have to take us to court. They asked me to sign a piece of paper, I said 'shove your paper'. They said if I don't sign that, the next step will be removing it."
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Four parents had saved up for the trampoline before assembling it in a communal space after a girl was struck by a driver in nearby Monmouth Road.
"It's not safe outside. I told them a little girl had already been run over and hurt," Melissa added. "And it's our property, we saved up and paid for it. I took it up with the MP today.... I had a swimming pool out there for two years, I'd be out jet washing it every week, and no one said anything, so why wasn't that a problem?
"They are trying to deprive the kids of the trampoline, many of them have ADHD, autism and other conditions. It's not like it's just one child who uses it, there's about eight or nine."
Birmingham's environment boss Cllr Majid Mahmood previously said it was too big a risk for the council to bear. He said: “If any third party such as a community group has play equipment or similar furniture that is intended for public land or existing council-maintained play areas, it needs to be discussed with us prior to installation.
“If the relevant safety checks and measures are not carried out along with agreements around the issue of maintenance, it places the council at risk of liability if any incidents occur. This exposes taxpayers across the city to a risk that it is not possible to bear. We do have a framework for parks infrastructure and can buy for groups items that meet the correct standards if they work with us in advance.”
BirminghamLive has approached the authority for another comment on the latest update.
