Attributable to Mayor Cr Clare Le Serve
As the long weekendapproaches with expected high temperatures, we again urge beachgoers to safelymanage their visits to the Bass Coast region. As always, we encourage all beachusers to assess the environment and take precautions to prevent tragedy by swimmingor wading on patrolled beaches, checking signs and swimming or wading onlybetween the flags.
If you are unsure aboutconditions on a beach; do not swim there. Please only enter the water onpatrolled beaches where there are lifeguards.
We want everyone who comes toenjoy our beaches to go home safely.
We encourage all visitors andresidents to download the Beach Safe app () andaccess key beach safety messaging on the Life Saving Victoria website andthroughout our Visitor Information Centres.
For the long weekend, Councilis providing increased print and digital communications in addition to theexisting beach signage and messaging. In partnership with Life SavingVictoria and relevant agencies, Council has increased beach safety messaging onsocial media and will utilise print and VMS board messaging at key locationsthroughout the Shire.
Inter-agency collaboration toimprove beach safety in Bass Coast Shire is ongoing, and relevant stakeholdershave convened multiple times over the last months to review data and recentevents, and identify opportunities to strengthen messaging in the longer term.While Council only directly controls signage at Council-managed beaches,Council continues to drive a collaborative approach across agencies to maintainconsistency and drive overall beach safety across the Shire. Council willcontinue to advocate state and federal governments to boost beach safety aspart of their tourism and migration strategies, while urging local communitymembers and visitors to stay safe at our beautiful beaches.
