boaties and surfers face to face and on-line
and enforcement with physical presence of
enforcement officers as well as with the use
of technology such as cameras to make sure
people are doing the right thing.”
Fast forward to an approaching bumper
holiday period and people are eager to learn
how much of this has been implemented so
far or is making any impact on what’s been
happening for years.
GCWA’s Hal Morris remains positive but is
totally upfront about the progress so far.
“The general comment is that it is going slower
than I would hope,” Mr Morris tells FROTH.
He says the situation will likely only be seen to
be improving once all elements of the safety
campaign are collaboratively working, which
isn’t happening just quite yet.
Regarding infrastructure: “As dredging
progresses in the estuary, the spoil is being
pumped by council
as far up the beach
as possible - at least
600 metres - so the
northern wall and the
northern mouth stays
open.
“That then gives the
maximum
chance
for vessels to steer clear of surfers until they
crossover through the break,” says Mr Morris.
A beach lover’s dream and a boatie’s nightmare - by law, boats here must not exceed 6 knots and must
stay 30m away from all swimmers and surfcraft, but of course that’s far from practical