Peter King fears a child will drown at a new Canterbury playground built just metres from stormwater drainage.

The local man has quietly fumed for months that swales - grassy areas used to treat stormwater runoff - have been located so close to the Tinwald playground.

After around 130mm of rainfall in early June, the two swales were still full early last week, posing a major risk, King said.

“Someone is going to drown."

King said he's not one to usually make waves, but something has to be done.

“I’d rather speak up before something tragic happens.”

Ashburton District Council said the maximum water level in the pond can be around 1.5m after heavy rain, but most of the time the area is dry.

Infrastructure and open spaces general manager Neil McCann said the council is working on a solution at Proctor Park.

“We are investigating how to better address the drainage issue with Proctor Park, which is related to the current high groundwater.”

The swale needs to be drained by a pump after a big rain event and the contractor managed to lower the water level last week, he said.

Proctor Park replaced the Grove Street Park, which closed in 2022 to make way for the construction of a new road, an extension of Catherine Street, for the Ashbury Grove subdivision.

The closure and positioning of the new park was part of a council public consultation process in 2021.

The new playground, which opened in December, is right next to stormwater drainage.

King said the developers removed the old park and council then approved the location of the new playground.

“It’s disgusting this was allowed."

“The park is where kids play and do what they want, and then there is this deep water right there.

“Putting it right next to a playground, where was their head at?

“If it was someone’s swimming pool they would be all over it.”

The council confirmed there was no legal requirement to fence the stormwater facilities. “But it’s something we could look at as part of our investigation into improving the operation of the Proctor Park swale," McCann said.

“The location of all infrastructure was considered as part of the planning and engineering process approval and under normal circumstances, these stormwater attenuation and treatment areas (swales) are compatible with other green space uses such as playgrounds.  

“However, due to higher than anticipated groundwater levels, this particular swale is reliant on a pump system to empty it following a large rainfall event – our contractor would usually check and activate the pump straight after such an event."

Normally, the swale only operates during and immediately following a rain event, he said.

“The maximum water level in the pond can be around 1.5m before a discharge, via an overflow weir, into the water race beside the pond."

By Jonathan Leask