A FONTYGARY resident is calling for urgent safety improvements to be made on the footpath leading to the beach following a series of nasty accidents in recent weeks.
Gareth Bartley, who has lived in the area with his wife for six years, says it is difficult to establish who is responsible for the upkeep of the set of steps that head towards the beach.
On 23rd June, Mr Bartley’s wife slipped and hurt herself, and the following morning a man sustained a head injury after a fall.
Mr Bartley said that immediate action needs to be taken to make the area safer: “Every year in the swimming season there are accidents on the steps with people slipping and falling. I’m pleased to say that my wife has recovered well, but it could’ve been much more serious.
“There were two accidents in two days, and there will inevitably have been lots more that I don’t know about where people fell and sustained minor injuries.
“There’s a rivulet that runs down to the sea, but it’s been diverted to the area by the steps due to foliage and rubbish, and that’s made the situation much worse because there’s green algae.
“It’s not possible to eliminate the slipperiness completely, but measures need to be taken to make it safer. There used to be a handrail on both sides, but the right-hand railing had rusted to the point where it was doing more harm than good because it wasn’t secure, and somebody removed it. Now there’s only a left-hand railing all the way down, and that’s not enough for some people to use it safely,” he said.
Mr Bartley says he has spoken to a senior member of staff at Fontygary Leisure Park, who told him that their area of responsibility ends at the top of the steps.
A Vale Council spokesperson said that the authority is not responsible for any of the area in question.
Mr Bartley hopes action will be taken to improve safety on the path soon: “It’s a nice, adventurous little rocky beach, and at high tide, you can swim in it.
“My wife and I love living in the area, but the steps leading to the beach are hazardous, and if things carry on the way they are, it’s only a matter of time before somebody gets seriously hurt,” he said.
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