Investigation into child's drowning at Gore oxidation pond launched

Thursday, 31 January 2019

The Gore District Council has installed 1.8-metre high fencing around the entrance to the council's oxidation where it is believed three-year-old Lachlan Paul Graham Jones entered the pond area.

The Gore District Council has installed extra fencing around the entrance of the oxidation pond where a 3-year-old child died.

The council response came as an investigation by WorkSafe was officially launched into the death of Lachlan Paul Graham Jones at a council oxidation pond on Tuesday.

The Gore District Council has now ordered an urgent review of the security and fencing at the ponds.

Gore District Council chief executive Steve Parry said extra fencing and higher gates, about 1.8 metres high, had been installed around the entrance to the oxidation pond where WorkSafe had been investigating.

It was done on the assumption at this point in time that the child accessed the pond from the gate area, Parry said.

Three-year-old Lachlan Paul Graham Jones died at the Gore District council waste water treatment plant oxidation ponds on Tuesday. Pictured Work Safe, Police and Gore District council staff at the entrance to the plant.

The new barriers would be an interim measure until the council received direction or recommendations from either WorkSafe or the coroner, he said.

The locked gates at the entrance off Grasslands Road.

The council would hold off installing new fencing around the entire pond because it did not want to preempt the findings made by the coroner or WorkSafe, Parry said.

Staff from WorkSafe visited the council's Wastewater treatment plant on Wednesday.

A WorkSafe spokeswoman said an investigation into Lachlan's death had been launched following initial inquiries.

The ponds are located on Grasslands Rd, at the southern end of the town, and are surrounded by farmland.

The closest houses are about 400 metres away on Salford St, which borders the southern end of the Gore A&P Showgrounds.

The council has now ordered an urgent review of the security and fencing at the ponds.

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) president Dave Cull said he would not make any statement on the matter because the circumstances were peculiar.

LGNZ would wait until the Gore District Council had completed its internal investigation to discover if the incident was only relevant to Gore, he said.

'There may be room to look into all concerning bodies of water such as dams, pools and such but we won't do anything until we complete Gore completes their investigation.'

Police in Gore were alerted Lachlan had gone missing about 9.30pm, after family, friends and neighbours had started a search themselves.

Searchers found him unresponsive in a pond about 11.15pm. Despite the best efforts of the search team, Lachlan was unable to be resuscitated.

Police offered their sympathies to Lachlan's friends and family.