Wellingborough parents of drowned teen Ronalds say River Nene Embankment signage 'a shambles'

Ronalds Abele’s parents Laura Kirsteine and Thomas Okyere were joined on a riverside fact-finding visit yesterday (Monday, July 29) by councillors, officers from North Northants Council (NNC) and the Environment Agency.

The couple have demanded urgent action to improve water safety measures on the banks of the River Nene, up and downstream of where the 17-year-old died.

As they toured the area, dad Thomas and mum Laura were appalled to find warning signs at the Upper Wellingborough Lock, just minutes from the Embankment play area, were not visible from the path and only faced the river – partially obscured by fencing.

Thomas said: “This is a shambles – this is wrong. The sign is in the wrong place. This tiny sign does not help.”

Laura and Thomas have been urging the authorities to ‘get things moving’ as the hot weather intensifies and children look to cool off during the school holidays.

They are asking the authorities to install ‘in depth’ numbered safety signs including locations using ‘what3words’ to direct emergency services when called and safety throwlines to be installed, using the same system for public defibrillators. They are also calling for the clearance of the path to ensure the water’s edge can be seen clearly by pedestrians and a defibrillator at the Splash Park.

Mike Greenway, NNC’s strategic lead for community safety, was told by Ronalds’ dad Thomas that it was ‘unacceptable’ that families were not being warned of the dangers on the NNC-owned land. Mr Greenway promised to check the legal situation surrounding the lack of safety equipment and signs.

He said: “I can give you my word that we are taking this seriously, that’s why we are here now. I want to be clear where we are with the law.”

Wellingborough Town Council’s Cllr Marion Turner-Hawes, who has been co-ordinating meetings, said: “We shouldn’t have had to wait for a tragedy for organisations and people to come together but what we are trying to do to see what we can do now. I think this is a chastening experience for the council (NNC) and we’ve all got to learn from this.”

Speaking of the number of families with young children drawn to the Embankment during the summer weather, Ronalds’ parents asked NNC councillor Matt Binley what the council was doing to assess risks.

Laura and Thomas said: “If you have this (the Splash Park and funfair) here for kids, you would think there would be something (signs and equipment) here. It’s not good enough. Every year you have the summer and there needs to be a risk assessment. When the season comes, you do it.”

Cllr Binley, who was attending in his role as the family’s NNC councillor, promised he would he would work with the couple ‘to make something happen’.

Thomas said: “Hopefully something good will come out of today because that’s all we want. Hopefully, someone will come up with the answers. We shouldn’t waste time because the whole week is going to be hot. Wasting time won’t benefit anyone. As soon as we can let’s get things moving. This can be done in weeks, rather than leaving it for months.

"We want this as soon as, we don’t want time wasted. The Environment Agency, the council, please get together and solve this issue. My fear is another tragedy happening. That’s one thing we don’t want.”

Anglian Watercourses manager for the Environment Agency, Alastair Windler, told the family there was an ‘opportunity’ for a multi-purpose safety sign on the Embankment building leased by the agency for water craft users.

Currently the signs on the building warn boaters – and others – that ‘due to persistent vandalism there is no life-saving equipment at this site’ as well as ‘no swimming’ and no fishing’ warnings.

Laura said: “That’s not good enough, if it (equipment) has been vandalised it needs to be put back.”

Permission has also been granted to allow temporary signs telling Ronalds’ story to be attached to the existing signs warning of the dangers of open water swimming.

Cllr Binley added: “It’s absolutely great these agencies have come together now but of course it’s in the aftermath of a tragedy. Whatever discussions take place will never bring him back. The agencies need to take away lessons learnt and to put in reasonable measures where they can to try and prevent any such tragedy ever happening again.

"There’s a multitude of things there’s quite apparent from walking along today. There are some really simple measures that need to be put in – there’s no-life saving equipment, signage is not clear. Does vegetation need to be cleared from the Embankment, are there barriers needed? There’s a whole host of things that need to be looked at and today is just the beginning.

"The measures need to be in place as soon as possible. I would like to see it happen within weeks, not months. The sooner the better.”

Last week, Ronalds’ friends joined with his parents at an event in his memory at the site where he drowned. The family held a community safety event at the Embankment on World Drowning Prevention Day, joining with community leaders.

Laura and Thomas installed home-made safety notices bearing Ronalds’ picture and a message to their son and people on the riverbank ‘tempted’ to take a swim.