SURF AND TURFED?
BEACHES MIGHT BE CLOSED
LOCAL beaches may soon close as frustration mounts over noncompliance with social distancing measures.
Hundreds flocked to beaches at Torquay and Lorne at the weekend, with witnesses saying many were not following distancing guidelines designed to reduce the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
The new measures include a ban on outdoor gatherings of 500 or more people, while also urging people to maintain a minimum distance of 1.5m from each other.
“People seemed to be treating it all like a holiday, the weather wasn’t even that great but there were people all over the shore and in the water,” said one witness at Torquay.
“And there was no distancing, they were right on top of each other.”
Lorne Surf Life Saving Club president Paul McMaster said while there was fewer than 500 people on the town’s beach on Saturday, many were failing to space themselves.
He said the beach would have been closed on Sunday if the previous day’s scenes were replicated.
“That was probably the disappointing thing — people just in bunches. There were bunches of 10 to 30 people in close proximity,” Mr McMaster said.
“It just doesn’t take much to spread apart a little bit.
“Lorne is a very small permanent population with a lot of elderl elderly, so I can understand concerns from people within the community. If there is an outbreak here, there is a lot of at-risk people.”
Mr McMaster said the club consulted Life Saving Victoria, which “100 per cent” backed its decision to close the beach if the distancing measures were not being followed.
“If those activities were to commence again today, we were going to close the beach,” he said. “Fortunately, common sense prevailed.”
Geelong resident Stephanie Morgan said she visited the seaside town on Saturday with her husband and was “shocked” at the number of people failing to comply with social distancing.
“The entire foreshore was full,” she said.
“No one is thinking about the next person. Everyone is thinking, ‘ Oh, well, it doesn’t affect me, I’m going to go to o the beach’.”
On Saturday, several Sydney-based councils announced the closure of beaches along the city’s coastline.
It followed a directive given to NSW lifesavers to conduct headcounts and close beaches if there was more than 500 people present.
Surf Coast Shire mayor Rose Hodge said it may be necessary to extend the strict measures to local beaches to slow the spread of coronavirus.
The responsibility for such a decision would likely fall to the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee, which did not respond to media requests yesterday. Cr Hodge said she was concerned about the upcoming school holidays and Easter long weekend, a period when large crowds typically descended on Surf Coast.
“Everyone really needs to heed these warnings,” she said “People have got to realise it’s not about themselves, it’s about others.
“You’ve got to remember you’ve got lifesavers on the beach who could be in a precarious situation themselves. This will go on for months and we’ve got to be prepared.”
Meanwhile, managers of an Indented Head caravan park have slammed a “stupid” prank that fooled people into believing a person was staying at the site while infected.
Tape, traffic cones and “isolation” stickers were placed within a section of Batman Park on Saturday morning.
Bellarine Bayside holiday parks manager Rod Newnham said it was unclear who was behind the hoax.