I have been having a problem with a football sports ground opposite my house. The perimeter fence is far to low and the consequences are that the ball leaves the football ground area and occasionally damages residents vehicles. There is also the issue of the football entering the main road, which causes vehicles to swerve etc. I contacted my local environmental health department and I was informed that residential damage is a civil matter and therefore nothing could be done. I therefore had to pursue the road safety issue. The Environmental Department checked the club's Risk Assessment which were to be found inadequate and required to be reassessed. However the Environmental Department informed me back in Jan 2011 "that a risk assessment has been made in accordance with our requirements. It remains for them (the club) to act on this assessment." This statement leads me to believe that it is up to the club if they want to introduce safety control measures or not. The Environmental Department are not interested to follow up my complaint. The problem still remains, the club is refusing to construct a higher fence or change the location of the pitch away from the highway and residential property, and the Environmental Department are quite happy on this decision. I have queried with the Environmental Department on what Risk Safety Measures are in place with regards to the the road safety hazard, but they refuse to answer this question. I would like to know if Risk Assessments are compulsory for private sports clubs? and if so should all risks have some form of safety measure? Or perhaps I am being fobbed off both by the club and my Environmental Department? Any advice would be very much appreciated! Video clip of some of the problem that I am complaining about below:

The grounds are private and own the land, although the council have a contract for the ground maintenance. I have been complaining to the council because I originally made the complaint over a year ago. I have had to make a Freedom of Information request to find out exactly what Risk Assessments are in place, probably armed with this information the next step would then be my MP. That is if I am correct in my assumption that all risks should have some form of safety measure.

Can we get this into some sort of proprtion please. Property damage is a civil matter and nothing to do with safety. The problem of the ball causing an accident however is one to be tackled as the concequences can be quite serious especially if children are involved. Broken windows etc should be followed up with a claim for costs of repair and should be enforced with some vigour. Other types of accidents would be a bit tricky to prove any liability on the football club as they now seem to have cover from the environmental people. Is there any history of accidents (as opposed to civil damage) caused by the ball from the ground as it seems you are challenging the environment departments judgement.

jazzey the problem is you will need to prove there uis a problem before many organisations will accept they have to do something. I'm afraid you probably have very little hard evidence that there is a problem. You say the riskl is HIGH but there is no record of any accidents to support this, you need to get to the basis of such a claim with PROOF of the risk especially since the Environmental people have stated that the risk is acceptable. Get the proof and take it from there.

Thanks for the information. I posted a video clip at the end of my first post which clearly shows that there is a problem with the current fencing which is causing a hazard to traffic So if what you are saying and the Environmental Dept are happy that this particular risk is acceptable, there is no need to pursue the club to introduce a risk safety measure on the RA?

But surely if the club and the LA are aware of one particular risk i.e road safety issues due to inadequate fencing. There should be some kind of a safety measure introduced? which should also be recorded on the RA.

You point is spot on Ray. The football club have conducted a risk assessment that the LA have accepted as adequate. I assume this is based upon the type of road and the frequency that a ball goes outside the ground concerned. The road is probably 30mph limited with good visibility so the true risk is quite low as most teams play only once or twice a week during the winter period so the balls enters the road during a two hour spell usually on a Saturday afternoon or a Wednesday evening. The main gripe I believe is the ball going into the posters front garden rather than any road risk. Try going to the football club and reach a deal to try and reduce the number of instances when the ball comes onto your property.

The grounds are also used by the public, there can be up to 40 incidents per week. My main gripe is the damage that it is causing, recently had £600 worth of damage to my car. But I am genuinely concerned of the road safety aspect, road visibility has nothing to do with the problem, when the ball leaves the grounds it just appears from nowhere i,e over the fence. How an earth can you reach a deal with the club? The fence is far to low and the only way to stop this is a higher fence or relocate the football pitch to a different area. I don't want to sound too negative but the impression I am getting from this board. Is that there are no safety issues regarding this fence and the club has acted appropriately in it's decision of not to do anything with regards to the road safety issue.

Thank you all for your helpful replies. I have always pointed out that there were two issues. Residential property damage, of which I have acknowledged that I know is a civil matter of which I am not seeking any advice. The Road Safety issue is a genuine concern. I live opposite the grounds and I do not want any kind of accident occurring. I was genuinely after some advice regarding Risk Assessments, which I was lead to believe was the only legal course of action that I could take to enforce the club to implement a safety measure of some kind. But unfortunately I have misread what Risk Assessments entail, but your information has helped me in a greater understanding of Risk Assessments. Please consider this thread is now closed!

listen to Ian Additionally there is only one person who will act to manage the site if that one person is at some sort of personal risk and that is the owner of the land. Find them and act accordingly [the word 'act' is the most important point here] anything else will not get U anywhere

Suggest you act collectively with your neighbours: petition, residents association etc. Many Local Authorities treat such groups with much more respect than the individual and may act as arbiter between the Club and the Residents Association. Fence is an option, but I feel turning the pitch 90 degrees would reduce this issue hugely - at no great cost. To offer you some sense of proportion, there are a great many long-established senior football clubs with grounds immediately adjacent to the highway and with no fence. My own Town's Starks Park (Raith Rovers) is an obvious example. Balanced against that, there are other senior clubs (Montrose? Brechin?) with residential properties behind the goal who HAVE installed high netting. Whether this is as a result of complaint or merely being a good neighbour, I couldn't say.