With the official beach season just weeks away, and beachgoers already out in force at the first sign of spring weather, Wollongong City Council is looking into how it will enforce social distancing throughout summer.
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In March, the council ended beach season a month earlier than the usual Anzac weekend ending to deter people from crowding the city's coastline.
However, it says there are no plans to delay the start of this summer's season.
A council spokesperson said the city was "working through our plans for the upcoming 2020/21 beach season" with lifeguards returning to the 17 patrolled beaches in Wollongong from September 26.
"We have updated risk assessments and plans in place that meet NSW Public Health Guidelines, as well as additional onsite signage that highlight the importance of maintaining social distancing on our beaches," the council said.
"Throughout this pandemic Council has focussed on putting the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff and volunteers, their families and our community first. We will continue this focus throughout the swim season and are ready to respond to changes to service, if necessary."
The council said it would increase signage to outline NSW Public Health Orders, like social distancing and general hygiene, and will alert police if people are in breach of these orders.
"Our lifeguards will follow the NSW Public Health Order requirements and if visitors to the beaches are consistently not following COVID-safe practices NSW Police will be contacted for action," the council said.
Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the council had no choice but to reopen beaches - for both residents and tourists - but that it would need to look into longer term ways of keeping people safe while the pandemic sticks around.
"There will now be the temptation for more people to visit the beach, and it will be a matter of us monitoring how people behave so we can see where we go next,"
"I would hope to avoid the shutting down of any public space, like we saw earlier this year, and would just encourage people to still continue to practice the public health orders - the virus is still out there and we're currently witnessing another cluster happening in the Sydney CBD."
Cr Bradbery said people had the right to travel around the NSW under the current health restrictions, which - coupled with no prospect of overseas travel - could mean more out-of-town visitors at Wollongong beaches.
"We have got no alternative but to allow visitors, and they will come to our beautiful part of the world," he said.
"But I have to say, if people haven't realised by now what social distancing involves, well they're pretty thick. The rules are clear."
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
