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ANTI-TERROR BOLLARDS FOR GEELONG
ANTI-TERROR concrete bollards will be placed in Geelong to boost security for one of the city’s busiest periods.
Police have confirmed they will use the bollards — which have been deployed in Melbourne in the wake of the Bourke St tragedy — as part of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and the Festival of Sails. Those events will draw thousands to the waterfront over the Australia Day weekend.
MELBOURNE-STYLE concrete bollards are expected to appear in Geelong as part of boosted safety measures for one of the city’s busiest periods.
Police have confirmed they will use the security bollards as part of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, which — along with the Festival of Sails — will draw massive crowds to the Geelong waterfront over the Australia Day weekend.
“Considerable planning goes into events such as the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race with a number of safety measures in place including bollards and barriers for traffic management purposes,” Victoria Police media officer Amelia Penhall said.
“There are no known or specific threats in relation to this event.”
Bollards had been widely used as safety measures for decades, but were brought to the forefront of public consciousness after cars twice drove through crowds in Melbourne’s CBD, killing seven.
Concrete bollards were installed on footpaths across Melbourne’s CBD after six people were killed and dozens injured when a car was deliberately driven down Bourke St on January 20 last year.
Then, in December, a car mowed through a crowd at a Flinders St crossing, killing an 83-year-old grandfather and injuring almost 20 other pedestrians.
City of Greater Geelong director of investment and attraction Brett Luxford said the council set public safety requirements in consultation with police and other agencies.
“To gain an events permit from the City for a public outdoor event, regardless of its size, all event organisers must submit a risk assessment and an emergency management plan that satisfies public safety requirements, and is proportionate to the risks associ- ated with their activity and location,” Mr Luxford said.
“We are guided by the Commonwealth’s national framework Australia’s Strategy for Protecting Crowded Places from Terrorism 2017.
“The City does not provide information on specific security plans, where they relate to individual events.”
A statement from event organisers noted there would be an “appropriate level of security commensurate with the level of risk”.
The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and the Festival of Sails draw holiday crowds in the tens of thousands to the Geelong waterfront each year.