Latest news with #LiquidLeisure
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Girl died at water park birthday party which did not have the right planning permission
A water park where an 11-year-old girl drowned did not have planning permission to host birthday parties, it has emerged. Kyra Hill drowned after getting into difficulty in the water at Liquid Leisure in August 2022. Newly-released council documents show it did not have permission to be a party venue or children's play centre. An inquest last month recorded a verdict that the schoolgirl was unlawfully killed. A new report from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's planning committee has revealed there was also no permission in place for the site to be used as an aqua theme park. The inquest in Reading found Kyra had been unlawfully killed as a result of gross breaches in health and safety at the park. The water park was also fined £80,000 in June last year for health and safety failures. Liquid Leisure was originally granted planning permission to be used for water-skiing and wind surfing in 1988. A planning enforcement notice issued to the company in December 2020 accused it of several planning breaches. It said these included the 'material change of use of the land' to a 'mixed use' comprising an 'aqua theme park', 'caravan and camping site', 'party venue' and 'child's play centre.' The BBC reported that Liquid Leisure appealed to the Government's Planning Inspectorate in February 2021 to overturn the enforcement notice, arguing that many of the activities were covered by the permitted use and that the council's theme park description was inaccurate. The firm withdrew its appeal in September 2022, following the death of Kyra who lived in Croydon with her family. The council also issued Liquid Leisure a breach of condition notice in October 2021, concerning breaches in its original planning permission restricting the erection of buildings and extensions. An application for retrospective planning permission for elements of the water park was submitted in February 2024. The council's development management committee will consider this application on Thursday. The application is to keep water-skiing on the southern lake and to use the northern lake for open water swimming, paddle-boarding and a small aqua park. A planning officer's report to be considered by the committee said that the new arrangements would 'reduce the scale of activities' and recommends that councillors vote to approve it. The report states that it will not cause issues relating to public safety provided the correct precautions are carried out in the operation of the site as required by health and safety legislation. A council spokesman said that the current enforcement notice had been partially complied with but was still in place. The spokesman added: 'The outcome of the current planning application will inform the next steps.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Girl died at water park birthday party which did not have the right planning permission
A water park where an 11-year-old girl drowned did not have planning permission to host birthday parties, it has emerged. Kyra Hill drowned after getting into difficulty in the water at Liquid Leisure in August 2022. Newly-released council documents show it did not have permission to be a party venue or children's play centre. An inquest last month recorded a verdict that the schoolgirl was unlawfully killed. A new report from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's planning committee has revealed there was also no permission in place for the site to be used as an aqua theme park. The inquest in Reading found Kyra had been unlawfully killed as a result of gross breaches in health and safety at the park. The water park was also fined £80,000 in June last year for health and safety failures. Planning breaches Liquid Leisure was originally granted planning permission to be used for water-skiing and wind surfing in 1988. A planning enforcement notice issued to the company in December 2020 accused it of several planning breaches. It said these included the 'material change of use of the land' to a 'mixed use' comprising an 'aqua theme park', 'caravan and camping site', 'party venue' and 'child's play centre.' The BBC reported that Liquid Leisure appealed to the Government's Planning Inspectorate in February 2021 to overturn the enforcement notice, arguing that many of the activities were covered by the permitted use and that the council's theme park description was inaccurate. The firm withdrew its appeal in September 2022, following the death of Kyra who lived in Croydon with her family. The council also issued Liquid Leisure a breach of condition notice in October 2021, concerning breaches in its original planning permission restricting the erection of buildings and extensions. An application for retrospective planning permission for elements of the water park was submitted in February 2024. The council's development management committee will consider this application on Thursday. The application is to keep water-skiing on the southern lake and to use the northern lake for open water swimming, paddle-boarding and a small aqua park. A planning officer's report to be considered by the committee said that the new arrangements would 'reduce the scale of activities' and recommends that councillors vote to approve it. The report states that it will not cause issues relating to public safety provided the correct precautions are carried out in the operation of the site as required by health and safety legislation. A council spokesman said that the current enforcement notice had been partially complied with but was still in place.
BBC News
03-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Kyra Hill death: Liquid Leisure had incorrect planning permission
A water park where an 11-year-old girl drowned during a birthday party did not have planning permission to be used as a party venue or child's play centre, council documents Hill got into difficulty in a designated swimming area at Liquid Leisure near Datchet, Berkshire, in August 2022.A new report from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's planning committee shows there was also no permission in place for the site to be used as an aqua theme park. An inquest last month found Kyra had been unlawfully killed as a result of gross breaches in health and safety at the park. Liquid Leisure has not responded to a request for comment. The water park was also fined £80,000 in June last year for health and safety Leisure was originally granted planning permission to be used for water-skiing and wind surfing in a planning enforcement notice issued to the company in December 2020 accused it of several planning said these included the "material change of use of the land" to a "mixed use" comprising an "aqua theme park", "caravan and camping site", "party venue" and "child's play centre". Liquid Leisure appealed to the government's Planning Inspectorate in February 2021 to overturn the enforcement notice, arguing that many of the activities were covered by the permitted use and that the council's theme park description was it withdrew its appeal in September 2022 following Kyra's council also issued Liquid Leisure a breach of condition notice in October 2021, concerning breaches in its original planning permission restricting the erection of buildings and application for retrospective planning permission for elements of the water park was submitted in February council's development management committee will consider this on application wants to keep water-skiing on the southern lake, and to use the northern lake for open water swimming, paddleboarding, and a small aqua park.A planning officer's report says this will "reduce the scale of activities" and recommends that councillors vote to approve report says it will "not cause issues relating to public safety provided the correct precautions are carried out in the operation of the site as required by health and safety legislation".A council spokesperson said the current enforcement notice had been "partially complied with" but was still in added: "The outcome of the current planning application will inform the next steps." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Times
20-05-2025
- Times
Girl, 11, who drowned at waterpark was unlawfully killed, coroner finds
An 11-year-old girl who drowned during a birthday party at a waterpark was unlawfully killed after gross health and safety breaches, a coroner has found. Kyra Hill got into difficulty in a designated swimming area at Liquid Leisure near Windsor on August 6, 2022. An inquest at Berkshire coroner's court in Reading was told how emergency services were only called 37 minutes after a lifeguard spotted Kyra struggling. Kyra, from Croydon in south London, was recovered from the water more than an hour after the emergency call. The safety breaches involved the depth and visibility of the water and the absence of an emergency plan and risk assessment, the senior coroner, Heidi Conner, said. The diver who found Kyra described the water visibility as 'zero'. There were no signs warning of deep water despite it reaching 4.67m in parts of the designated swimming area, Conner said. The only sign present warned of shallow water. Young children were permitted to swim without buoyancy aids and there was no advice warning parents to supervise children in a ratio of one to four. There was also no emergency plan, risk assessment or safety measures taking 'clear risks' into account. A diver also missed several phone calls from staff during the emergency and staff refused requests to clear the swimming area. Conner said that the failures were 'likely to have caused or contributed more than minimally to Kyra's death'. She added: 'If there had been systems in place to make parents and carers aware that there were deep parts of the water, then it is unlikely that Kyra would have got into trouble as she did.' The owner of the park was fined £80,000 over the breaches last June. Leonard Hill, Kyra's father, fought back tears as he described his daughter at the inquest on Tuesday. He said: 'Kyra was a beautiful, beaming beacon of light in the lives of all who were fortunate enough to know her. Our beloved Kyra was a remarkably strong and exceptional swimmer, a true champion in the water. Yet despite her strength, her life was tragically cut short.'
Sky News
20-05-2025
- Sky News
Kyra Hill: Girl, 11, who drowned at Liquid Leisure waterpark was unlawfully killed, coroner finds
An 11-year-old girl who drowned at a waterpark was unlawfully killed, a coroner has found. Kyra Hill died after getting into difficulty in a designated swimming area at Liquid Leisure near Windsor in Berkshire while attending a birthday party on 6 August 2022. Senior coroner Heidi Connor ruled there were gross breaches of health and safety measures at the park which contributed to her death. The breaches related to the depth and visibility of the water and the absence of an emergency plan and risk assessment, she found. An inquest at Berkshire Coroner's Court heard how the schoolgirl was found more than an hour after emergency services were alerted and was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The inquest heard there were no signs warning of deep water at the leisure park. Despite various sharp drops of up to 4.5m (14.7ft) within the swimming zone, the only signs relating to depth said "danger shallow water". The lake where Kyra was seen going under was 2.68m (8.8ft) deep, a report carried out after the incident found. A 17-year-old lifeguard managed to reach the point where Kyra disappeared but staff at the centre were only qualified to perform "surface-water rescues" - not underwater ones. The inquest heard evidence of how there was a 10-minute gap between the first and second searches for the youngster in that part of the lake. Although a manager attended rapidly, 37 minutes passed between Kyra struggling and 999 being called. The frantic search was likened to a "nightmare" by a mother attending the birthday party, while a police officer described it as a "chaotic scene" due to "conflicting" information being fed to the emergency crews. The diver who eventually found Kyra told the inquest the lake had "almost zero visibility". Parents and carers were not advised to attend with children in a ratio of one to four, and young children were permitted to swim without buoyancy aids, the coroner said. There was also no emergency plan or risk assessment that took those factors into account, and no control measures were identified and put in place to "take account of these clear risks", she added. A post-mortem examination confirmed Kyra's cause of death as "drowning". Giving her conclusions, Ms Connor said: "Members of the family, at no point have I forgotten that this was about your 11-year-old, Kyra, and I am so very sorry that you are here today. "It must have been incredibly difficult to sit in court and hear some of the evidence that we've heard. I offer all of you my heartfelt condolences." At the time of the incident, her father told Sky News she was "left to drown" and accused the operator of "neglect". 2:38 Speaking outside court on Tuesday, Leonard Hill said: "Summer should be a time of joy in creating happy memories with family and friends. "It should never end in tragedy. It should never mark the day we mourn our children's lives, lost in places where they should have been safe. "The terrible reality is that without urgent reform, more families will face these devastating goodbyes." 1:04 Mr Hill described Kyra's life as a "shining example of resilience and strength". The youngster was a Manchester United fan and dreamed of becoming a professional footballer, with a back-up plan to pursue law. Mr Hill added: "Her memory demands that we demand safer standards now. No parent should endure this pain and no child's life should be sacrificed so recklessly. "We must act today for Kyra and for every family that visits these leisure parks tomorrow.
