LOCAL businesses have acted quickly to ensure the bumper holiday crowd has protection when swimming at Mollymook Beach.
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Shoalhaven City Council had not budgeted to provide professional lifeguards on any of the region’s beaches during the Easter school holidays.
But with fine weather inspiring large number to spend time on the sand and in the water at Mollymook Beach, three local businesses have kicked in the money needed to ensure professional lifeguards are on duty this weeks.
Mollymook Surf Life Saving Club members patrolled the beach from Good Friday to Easter Monday, but when the members returned to work yesterday the Australian Lifeguard Service took over.
Lifeguards are continuing to patrol the beach today and tomorrow, before the surf club takes over again on Anzac Day.
However it took a lot of drive, community spirit and determination to raise the money needed for the lifeguards, and then to get Shoalhaven City Council to give its approval.
Milton resident David Johnson took up the battle when he saw people all over the beach and many in the water, some of them swimming in unsafe locations because there were no flags up to advise them where to swim.
With Shoalhaven City Council saying it had not budget to employ lifeguards during the Easter holidays, Mr Johnson quickly gained the support of local businesses Bannisters Lodge, Mollymook Golf Club and Akwa Surf Shop to cover the $3000 cost of lifeguards for three days.
All spoke of the importance of having beaches patrolled in the peak tourist season.
“We spend tens of thousands of dollars encouraging local and international visitors to Mollymook and boast about the fabulous Mollymook Beach as a major attraction, it would be ridiculous for the beach not being patrolled at this peak time,” said Bannisters manager Peter Bacon.
Mollymook Golf Club chief executive John Holt was eager to contribute to lifeguards patrolling the beach, saying, “We also put a lot of effort in promoting to the tourist market and Molllymook Beach is a major attraction during this time, so it would be totally irresponsible not to provide safe swimming on the beach.”
Kurt Nyholm from Akwa Surf Shop at Milton said ensuring lifeguards were on duty at the beach during the Easter break was “an absolute no-brainer”.
“We are always telling all our customers to make sure they always swim between the red and yellow flags,” he said.
Even with the money provided, it took last-minute negotiations with Shoalhaven City Council to get the lifeguards authorised.
Late on Thursday afternoon a statement from council’s aquatics manager Kevin Norwood said council did not traditionally provide lifeguards at any of its beaches during Easter.
Mr Norwood also stated council had recently received a briefing on professional beach patrol services throughout the Shoalhaven, and was working with NSW Surf Life Saving in its Safe Coast Report, to help determine whether lifeguard services needed to be expanded.
However an appeal direct to Shoalhaven Mayor Joanna Gash resulted in approval for the lifeguard services just half an hour later.
Cr Gash said she did little, as the local community organised the money needed to ensure the lifeguards were on duty.
She said she was not aware of the lack of lifeguards over Easter, but promised, “It is something I will be looking at”.
“I understand the concerns of people, but I also understand the financial constraints that we have,” Cr Gash said.