Crowds heed shire’s message and stay home

THE traditionally busy Easter period in the Surf Coast Shire has come and gone, but it appears the usual crowds have heeded the council’s message to stay home to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Some surfing breaks were still busy, and the Surf Coast branch of the Surfrider Foundation has warned that beaches will be shut unless people follow the social distancing protocols.

In the lead-up to the four-day weekend, the Surf Coast Shire council rolled out a strong “stay at home” campaign on street billboards and on social media aimed at permanent residents, non-permanent residents and visitors.

On Tuesday, shire mayor Rose Hodge said it seemed the council’s efforts had worked.

“I’ve had some very good reports from the officers, and from right along the coast, too – Clive (Goldsworthy) in Lorne, Tony (Revell) and Margot (Smith) in Anglesea.

“It was very, very quiet in Torquay on Easter, much more quiet than usual.

“It did pick up a bit on Saturday and there were a few more people around on Monday, but observing social distancing.

“We’re very pleased with how (the campaign) went; hopefully we won’t have to do it again.

“To all the non-permanent residents, I want to thank them for not coming – I know not all of them were happy about it, but when this is all over, we’ll welcome them with open arms.”

Beaches are still open for surfing.

On the morning of Easter Monday, a post on the Surfrider Foundation Surf Coast page noted a Victoria Police boat was filming an estimated 50 surfers at Winki Pop, with another 50 surfers at Bells Beach and 180 cars in the carparks, and the Southside carpark was filled to capacity.

“It’s up to you, do you want to have surfing banned? The last thing we want is for the virus to be spread or for all beach activities to be banned because of the actions of surfers,” the post stated.

“Please follow the rules around not gathering on the beach, in the water or on the cliffs watching and staying more than 1.5 metres apart. There have been lots of cars turning up with multiple surfers in them (and) groups of cars driving around looking for a wave.”

The branch is also promoting a “get in – spread out – get out – go home!” message.

Surfing Victoria chief executive officer Adam Robertson has previously said people “should not leave their postcode” to surf.

There were large gatherings of people at several Surf Coast beaches on March 28, and local authorities moved that evening to close all Surf Coast beaches except for those exercising.