Comments on: How safe was Battersea Park?

By: Nicholas Allison

Nicholas Allison — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 15:33:00 +0000

Formula E in Battersea Park is brilliant.I live 12 minutes walk from this lovely park facility.The benefits to the borough are enormous. Bring it on please for at least the next four years . Your time would be better spent sorting out the environmental damage from the traffic queues caused by the new and numerous traffic lights at the roundabout at Queenstown Road/ Chelsea Bridge Road. That would be much more helpful.

By: susan ekins

susan ekins — Thu, 26 Nov 2015 12:00:00 +0000

A policeman slipped on the bridge – damp weather had made it dangerously slippery – and was off work for weeks with broken ribs.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 10:03:00 +0000

For those of us working in the private sector it defies belief that Captain Mainwaring and his chaotic team are allowed near matters of public safety and reminds me of the management team that allowed its ferry to leave port with its bow doors open.
Risk Management is designed and used to protect people, us, park users, children, yet this solemn responsibility is not understood by outdated management sporting fancy job titles and over egged Hay Grades.

By: bobby

bobby — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 21:27:00 +0000

No surprises here, the report already says it all “the site is handed over to the event operator” (p32).

Wandsworth council is trying to construct for itself a legal defence before a claim has been made – the problem is their defence will not work: they owe a duty of care to all visitors to the park, they have breached that duty, and they know, or should have known, that the construction involved in running the Formula-E event posed a health and safety risk to the public.

By: Cyril [CJAG]

Cyril [CJAG] — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 17:32:00 +0000

It is very similar to the excuses that developers give for not disclosing their viability study to justify scraping affordable housing.
Basically the same way that Council and residents are told to trust a developer saying they need such and such and scrap that because otherwise it’s not viable, here we are told to trust that the risk assessment has been undertaken, without any possibility to verify and even question it.
For the record, last time a court asked a developer to disclose it viability assessment, it was proven completely that its only goal was to safeguard their own huge profit. I fear that the same might be true for the safety assessment here…

By: Temporary ID

Temporary ID — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 17:03:00 +0000

The safety or otherwise of children in pushchairs is “commercially sensitive” information? I think not.

By: susan ekins

susan ekins — Mon, 23 Nov 2015 15:52:00 +0000

A well-constructed analysis of a situation that reflects very badly on the council.