Furious mum handed 'angry' note ordering her to tear down trampoline in garden

05 September 2023 , 20:05

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Caitlin Hamilton has been ordered to remove the bouncy toy (Image: Caitlin Hamilton)

A mum has been left fuming after being ordered to remove her son’s beloved trampoline from a shared garden area over health and safety fears.

Caitlin Hamilton, 29, lives in a block of flats in Edinburgh and bought the bouncy toy for her four-year-old son as well as other children living nearby. However she - and every other neighbour - recently got a letter from housing agency Harbour Homes demanding it be taken away.

A team was later sent out to remove the trampoline while the mother was at work, as a neighbour alerting Caitlin. Now she is nervous they will return. She told Edinburgh Live: “I feel nervous staying here now because I never know when they’re going to come and try to take my son’s toys away.

The local children enjoying the trampoline (Caitlin Hamilton)

“My garden is probably about the size of a football pitch and they say the trampoline is too big - they’re picking at any excuse and they’re not having it and I don’t know what else to do. I have told them that I am not moving it but if it ever does come to a point where they are threatening to kick me out my house with my son then I will need to think about things but the way I am standing just now is that I think it’s just ridiculous.

"What do they want the kids to do, sit inside all summer? We’re not having it. I put a trampoline in my back garden and it’s been the first summer that all the kids have been out playing - we have met kids that we have never met before, it's been so nice, like a wee community has been built.

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"They sent out a letter saying they will be removing the trampoline, they’re going to charge for the removal as well and they’ll be removing all the toys that they deem fit as they believe that they should be tidied up when not in use and that they are a health and safety hazard."

Addressing the concerns raised by Caitlin, a spokesperson from Harbour Homes said that they are going to review the issue at hand but said it's 'difficult' to meet the different needs and priorities of tenants.

A spokesperson for Harbour Homes said: "We really want all our tenants to enjoy using the communal garden. It’s also very important that we do everything we can to keep everyone safe. That’s why we ask tenants not to keep particularly large toys which create a health and safety threat, such as trampolines, in the shared garden.”

Antony Thrower