Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club calls for rethink on main beach precinct

Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club leaders are desperate to keep beachgoers safe but they say bumper holidaymaker crowds and parking issues are forcing people to access unpatrolled areas.

They say the city's popular carnival has expanded, reducing parking, and a bottleneck impacting traffic flow on Pertobe Road presents a hazard for emergency vehicles when required.

There was a suggestion in December 2021 the carnival be relocated but organisers said they were not keen to move.

Warrnambool Surf Lifesaving Club captain Josephine McDowell said the club had spent $110,000 on a club precinct masterplan and it was now time to secure local, state and federal government funding to help drive forward the new club house project.

The club wants a new headquarters to the west of the existing facility, which would then be returned to parking.

Both federal member for Wannon Dan Tehan ($6m) and state MP Roma Britnell ($12m) had made multi-million dollar election promises in 2022 to help fund a new centre.

But their parties failed to win power, meaning the club needs to win government support.

Ms McDowell said the foreshore desperately needed to be redeveloped and a hub created with input from all stakeholders.

She said the hub needed to be in the right location to provide the best possible service and visibility for the four-kilometre beach front.

"We also need to look at traffic management and the sustainable enjoyment of this wonderful natural resource," Ms McDowell said.

"We've had enormous support from the Warrnambool City Council and local state and federal representatives. We currently don't have a Lady Bay precinct plan with the council and the land owners, DELWP (now Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action) and we need to start that process as a priority."

Ms McDowell said the feedback from the community and other stakeholders undertaken by the club in April-June last year had been massively positive but it was now time for action - attracting funding.

"There have been some great developments in Warrnambool and we see this as one of the next big ones," she said.

"We have outgrown our existing facility which is now well beyond its use-by date.

"If we want to boost safety by having more swimmers in the flag zone then we have to look at the whole precinct.

"We are looking at the bigger picture and a huge number of people use the beach."

The club captain said drownings across Victoria during the past couple of weeks had happened outside flag zones and the Warrnambool beach was even closed east of the surf club on Boxing Day.

"There were an enormous number of people in the Surfside Holiday Park, many with boogie boards they received for Christmas and the first thing they wanted to do was head out into the surf," she said.

"But, we closed the beach because of the conditions. We are trying to make the beach as safe as possible for everyone.

"We make those decisions to try and guide the public to the safest swimming locations."

Ms McDowall said Stingray Bay also caused issues because while it often looked safe, there were still many days when water pushed between the islands making the area extremely hazardous.

She said Stingray Bay was a very difficult area for lifesavers to get to quickly if somebody got into trouble.

She said there was no lifesaving service posted in that area and the club would prefer people swam in Lady Bay at the surf club where they could be observed.

"Everyone - businesses, the carnival, those who run the markets, the council and (DEECA) - should have a say but in the end we want the safest possible beach - a whole table solution," Ms McDowell said.

"We need parking in the best possible locations, we need the surf club in the best place with the best visibility and to be able to respond to whatever emergency comes our way.

"Our service is manned at peak times by volunteers, we fund our own equipment and first aid supplies, but there needs to be a new facility to provide the safest possible service for everyone."

Western Area Chief Lifeguard Life Saving Victoria Michael Owen said people would swim close to where they could park, which posed a major issue for Warrnambool.

"We've been pretty lucky so far this year but the state has had a bad run and it's in areas that are not patrolled," he said.

"The concern in Warrnambool is that most of the parking is away from the patrolled section of the beach.

"We want people in that flagged area, that's the message from Surf Life Saving, but we have an issue with parking and access."

Mr Owen said the majority of high-end rescues were toward the east of the surf club in The Flume area.

"We pulled an older man out of there two years ago who had to be revived," he said.

"The big advantage of other patrolled areas along this coast, Port Campbell, Port Fairy and Narrawong, is that those flagged areas are close to parking."

Warrnambool police Sergeant Jason Barker said during times of emergency police officers relied on the public to make way for emergency vehicles and Warrnambool had no standing orders for police to use Harris Street/Stanley Street bridge as an access point.

"The public needs to make a clear path for us through, best as practicable," he said.

"Road users need to be aware. At times of high traffic flow people need to be patient and drive accordingly."

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