A tradie has set up a huge waterslide in his backyard with old carnival equipment just in time for summer – but the ‘killjoy’ local council wants to take it away as they deem it unsafe.
Luke Newton put together the colourful creation in his Perth backyard and opened it to the neighbours earlier this week.
The attraction has become the hit of Heathridge, with children banging down his door to have a go on the now-famous attraction.
But the City of Joondalup Council want the homemade structure torn down, saying it poses ‘serious safety and wellbeing risks’ to anyone who rides it.
‘Safety is in the eye of the beholder,’ Mr Newton told Sunrise on Thursday in response to their concerns.
A tradie has set up a huge waterslide in his backyard with old carnival equipment just in time for summer – but the ‘killjoy’ local council wants to take it away as they deem it unsafe
Luke Newton put together the colourful creation in his Perth backyard and opened it to the neighbours earlier this week
Luke Newton put together the colourful creation in his Heathridge backyard and opened it up this week for locals to try out
Mr Newton was given the slide by a friend of a friend, who had the structure sitting in a warehouse and desperately wanted to get rid of it.
‘He said: ‘this would be perfect for you, you’ve got to have it’,’ Mr Newton told Sunrise.
He and his mates took a day to build it, using scaffolding to hold up the slide which perfectly fit into Mr Newton’s wide backyard.
‘I didn’t do it to any council specifications because honestly I didn’t think it needed it. It was just a scaffold structure with a fibre glass slide,’ he said.
However, the City Of Joondalup had already received a complaint about the slide.
‘The City received a complaint from a local resident worried about the potential of serious injuries or death from a large waterslide structure on a Heathridge property,’ City of Joondalup mayor Albert Jacob told WAToday.
‘The water slide leading into a residential pool… is in breach of building and planning laws, specifically posing a serious safety and wellbeing risk as it provides unrestricted access to the pool.’
Locals objected to their ruling, describing it as further proof of a ‘nanny state’.
‘Neighbours love it, kids love it, why can’t we just have some fun,’ one person said.
Images of the green, yellow and orange carnival slide show it stretching across most of his backyard, and into his pool
Mr Newton also uploaded a video to Instagram showing just how he and his mates managed to assemble the ride
Mr Newtown said the community loves the slide and he intends to do whatever it takes to keep it there
Mr Newton said the community loves the slide and he intends to do whatever it takes to keep it there.
‘I wanna (sic) fight this, the community love it, everyone’s having fun, it’s not fair,’ he wrote on social media.
‘People I need your help, the Joondalup council is already trying to shut me down. Any builders or construction or safety people tell me what I can do!’
It is believed Mr Newton inherited the slide from The Great Escape water park in Perth which closed in 2016.
The City Of Joondalup has already received a complaint about the slide