Opinion
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The idea of erecting "beaches full" signs on Sundays to warn off Sydney visitors so Wollongong locals can enjoy their own beaches certainly ruffled some feathers this week.
"We need tourists", "beaches are for everyone" and "don't be NIMBY snobs" were the kind of comments that greeted Councillor Janice Kershaw's idea.
Of course we need tourists to bring their business. But living near some of the most popular beaches for Sydney visitors, I see first-hand the effects of increasing congestion - like when it takes 30 minutes to drive through Thirroul, which was once a sleepy village.
Closing beaches, though, misses the point - the problem isn't beaches being too crowded, it's that the transport infrastructure to move people in and out again hasn't been built.
This is not just NIMBYism. Gridlock, traffic snarls and a lack of parking affect not just locals, but all ratepayers who travel around the city, as well as visitors. It's not the number of people on beaches that's the problem; it's the lack of foresight in how to manage them.
The parking horrors of North Wollongong and the Thirroul gridlock are the clearest examples of a policy failure no level of government seems interested in fixing. The State Government pushes thousands more homes into Wilton, without improving the roads between there and here. Wollongong City Council continues to approve higher density housing north of Bulli Pass, saying road congestion isn't appropriate to consider for this particular development application. Nor the next one, nor the ...
One looming issue is beach patrols and whether they should be extended for longer hours, or to additional beaches.
Councils have been reluctant to expand patrols but with more people, easier mobility and new suburbs being built around Wilton, beaches will be a lot busier.
It simply won't be good enough for a lifeguard to pull down the flags 15 minutes early, blow the whistle, and tell 80 people to get out of the water, while another 130 people along the beach ignore him, not ready to head back to Minto just yet.
Also, patrols may need to be extended to some presently non-flagged beaches. With popular car parks, visitors swim in unflagged areas regularly. These include Sandon Point (south end), Sharkys, and Puckeys. Just saying "you shouldn't swim if there aren't flags up" isn't working. It is reasonably foreseeable that people will swim in these spots on busy days, and we can't pretend we don't know.
With a heating planet, councils can declare a climate emergency - but will they be prepared to extend the patrol season to deal with hotter Septembers and Aprils?
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