A message from the Mayor about our beaches

Saturday 29 August 2020

The behaviour of visitors to our beaches and parks has been really pleasing so far this weekend and we encourage that behaviour to continue as we head into the warmer months.

As expected, we had a steady stream of visitors at Bondi today, with numbers increasing at around 2pm when the mercury rose to around 22 degrees. Bronte also saw an increase in visitors on previous weekends, and our lifeguards, beach ambassadors and Rangers were prepared for this.

Visitors observing social distancing advice, Bondi Beach, 10am, Sunday 30 August.

The beach itself was pretty quiet as there’s still a slight chill in the air. Quite a few surfers were out enjoying the waves at all three beaches. Our Rangers and Ambassadors were spending more time on the promenade and walking through the parks and everyone seemed to be behaving well. The Police are patrolling the area and have been working closely with our Lifeguards. Everyone is happy with the way things are progressing so far today.

Our beach ambassadors, Rangers and lifeguards observed that overall people were social distancing and not gathering in big groups. Today the community demonstrated that they can adapt well so we are confident that with sensible behaviour we can keep our beaches open and defeat COVID-19.

Rangers and beach ambassadors patrolling Bondi Beach promenade, 10am, Sunday 30 August

We manage our public spaces including beaches and parks in line with the current Public Health Orders. We know that our parks and the promenade are popular places to visit when it might be too cold to go for a swim. We have been working with NSW Health, the police and our neighbouring Councils since March on a coordinated approach to managing health risks at our beaches and public spaces, and we’re delighted with the level of collaboration and insights gained.

Our collective focus has been on proactively managing our beaches and parks in line with public health orders to reduce the risks to the health and safety of our community from coronavirus. I personally wish to thank the Minister for Health and Medical Research for his support and the assistance provided by Health officials.

Our message is clear: help us keep our beaches open by observing the relevant Public Health Orders at all times. We need to remember that we are still in a pandemic and we need to adapt our behaviour to that reality.

If you are considering making the trip out to Bondi tomorrow, and the beaches look busy, please come back another time, or use that time to have lunch, grab a coffee or browse our local shops. Our local businesses really need that extra support and need people to continue to do the right thing so that we can keep our beaches open.

-Paula Masselos, Mayor of Waverley