Maldon Marine Lake
Encyclopedia
Maldon Marine Lake is a lake in Maldon
, a small historic town on the estuary of the River Blackwater
in Essex
, England has been renowned for its promenade park with its salt water lake. The lake was created in 1905 and greatly added to the attraction of the area, making it a popular tourist venue. The attraction being that one could swim, no matter what the state the tide in the adjacent estuary.
Sadly in 2002 a young father lost his life swimming in the lake when he seems to have collided with a submerged and unseen post that was the base for a warning sign. Ultimately the Maldon
District Council http://www.maldon.gov.uk/home was prosecuted by The Health and Safety Executive http://www.hse.gov.uk/ and found guilty.
Meanwhile the lake was closed to swimmers on safety grounds. The Council's plans to reopen the lake for swimming foundered because they could not afford to satisfy the HSE's condition that 26 life guards should supervise swimming at any one time and the lake should be enclosed by a barrier of at least 2 metres, which some had said would give it aesthetic similarities to that of a prison. It was pointed out that there are many other swimming places in the UK where swimming is permitted without formal supervision. Local people seemed not to understand why there need to be different standards applied in Maldon.
As the plans to reopen the marine lake to swimmers were blocked, Maldon Town Council submitted new plans which involved the creation of an "ornamental lake." This proved incredibly unpopular with local residents and a "Save Maldon Marine Lake" campaign was initiated. However, the council were unwilling to take any further risks with regards to health & safety and therefore decided the lake would benefit the area in the long term. The new proposals will prohibit people from bathing in the lake. In addition a water-play area and a "Galleon play area" were proposed for the site and are now built. The loss of the swimming facility seems to be an issue which will not go away and already, several swimming protests have been staged. There are real fears that children and weak swimmers will use the river instead, a far more dangerous place to swim.
Maldon, Essex
Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk...
, a small historic town on the estuary of the River Blackwater
River Blackwater, Essex
The River Blackwater is a river in England. It rises in the northwest of Essex as the River Pant and flows to Bocking, near Braintree, from where its name changes to the Blackwater. Its course takes it near Stisted, and then via Bradwell Juxta Coggeshall and Coggeshall and near Witham where it is...
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, England has been renowned for its promenade park with its salt water lake. The lake was created in 1905 and greatly added to the attraction of the area, making it a popular tourist venue. The attraction being that one could swim, no matter what the state the tide in the adjacent estuary.
Sadly in 2002 a young father lost his life swimming in the lake when he seems to have collided with a submerged and unseen post that was the base for a warning sign. Ultimately the Maldon
Maldon (district)
Maldon is a local government district in Essex, England. Its council is based in the town of Maldon, and the next largest centre of population is Burnham-on-Crouch. The district covers the Dengie peninsula as well as an area to the north of the Blackwater Estuary, a total area of...
District Council http://www.maldon.gov.uk/home was prosecuted by The Health and Safety Executive http://www.hse.gov.uk/ and found guilty.
Meanwhile the lake was closed to swimmers on safety grounds. The Council's plans to reopen the lake for swimming foundered because they could not afford to satisfy the HSE's condition that 26 life guards should supervise swimming at any one time and the lake should be enclosed by a barrier of at least 2 metres, which some had said would give it aesthetic similarities to that of a prison. It was pointed out that there are many other swimming places in the UK where swimming is permitted without formal supervision. Local people seemed not to understand why there need to be different standards applied in Maldon.
As the plans to reopen the marine lake to swimmers were blocked, Maldon Town Council submitted new plans which involved the creation of an "ornamental lake." This proved incredibly unpopular with local residents and a "Save Maldon Marine Lake" campaign was initiated. However, the council were unwilling to take any further risks with regards to health & safety and therefore decided the lake would benefit the area in the long term. The new proposals will prohibit people from bathing in the lake. In addition a water-play area and a "Galleon play area" were proposed for the site and are now built. The loss of the swimming facility seems to be an issue which will not go away and already, several swimming protests have been staged. There are real fears that children and weak swimmers will use the river instead, a far more dangerous place to swim.