Image

June 9, 2017

Pool owners in Petrolia will have to make sure their entrances are locked, but they won’t have to have fencing all the way around it.
Since 2009, the town has required all pools to have four sided fences – even if one of the sides mirrored the wall of a house. The council of the day wanted to make sure someone inside wouldn’t open a door and go into a pool when there was no one watching.
In April, Petrolia resident Wade Deighton told council he didn’t think a four-sided fence was necessary if a homeowner used the side of their house as one side. He suggested other safety features on the home’s door could be used, eliminating the extra fencing.
Some councillors agreed saying most drownings happen because people aren’t watching while everyone is in the enclosed area.
Councillor Grant Purdy suggested the house could be used as a wall as long as there was an alarm on the door. But Mayor John McCharles felt that would only work if someone was at home.
So, town staff looked for a solution. The bylaw will now read; “all entranceways forming part of a pool enclosure are locked at all times except when the swimming pool is in use and being supervised by an adult.”
“I feel that’s a lot fairer of a system,” says Councillor Ross O’Hara.
However some still voiced concern. Councillor Mary Pat Gleeson noted just last week a child in Windsor fell into a pool and authorities had said a locked gate could have prevented it. “I don’t want anyone to experience hardship.”

Share This

Image
Front Page

ICYMI: Record-breaking crowd at Alvinston Rodeo

June 20, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Like the movie says; if you build it, they will come. The Alvinston Pro Rodeo committee brought in larger stands hoping to accommodate visitors to the three-day event. Saturday night, those stands were filled and there were still people looking for seats according to Chairman Dan Cumming. Here’s just some of the action from the event:

Read More

Image
Front Page

Lambton Public Health issues first heat warning of the summer

June 20, 2025

FROM LAMBTON PUBLIC HEALTH With the prediction of hot and humid weather expected to start on Saturday,June 21 and continue into next week, Environment and Climate Change Canada is issuing a HeatWarning for Lambton County. Heat warnings are issued when two or more consecutive days of daytime maximum temperatures areexpected to reach 31°C or warmer and nighttime minimum temperatures are

Read More

Image
Front Page

Rural bus service starts making stops in Wyoming Monday

June 20, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Before there was money to bring a bus into Wyoming, Susan Mills was answering questions from residents about a new rural transit system. The Town of Plympton-Wyoming became a partner in the rural transit system called Huron Shores Area Transit earlier this spring. But service didn’t begin immediately. Lambton Shores, which runs the system, and its partners,

Read More

Image
Front Page

Why spend $20K to study a bridge to nowhere: McEwen

June 20, 2025

Heather Wright/The Independent Plympton-Wyoming Deputy Mayor Netty McEwen says it doesn’t make sense to spend $20,000 to study a bridge that goes nowhere. Paul daSilva, Director of Public Works, in a report to council June 11, suggested spending $40,000 to do Municipal Environmental Assessments on two low-traffic bridges, one on O’Brien Road, the other on Elmsley Road. “I took a

Read More