Kingborough Council is fast-tracking plans for new safety signage at Blackmans Bay Beach after multiple young people were rescued from a dangerous rip current over the weekend.
Councillor Flora Fox raised the issue at this week’s council meeting, calling for warning signs to be installed at the northern end of the beach “to alert the public to the presence of a dangerous rip in this area”.
“I have lived in Blackmans Bay since I was one year old. People have drowned in that area,” she said.
Fox said existing signs warn beachgoers about rocks but make no mention of the rip.
She urged the council to act immediately rather than wait for a broader signage rollout.
“The word rip needs to be put up perhaps on that sign immediately,” she said.
“It’s an accident waiting to happen and it’ll happen again within a few weeks.”
Mayor Paula Wriedt said she and the deputy mayor had already raised the matter with the chief executive.
Wriedt said the council had been in discussions with Surf Life Saving Australia about installing safety signage at non-patrolled beaches such as Blackmans Bay.
The proposal also includes attaching personal flotation devices to the signs for use in emergencies.
“We’re working through that process with them because obviously we want everybody to be safe,” she said.
“I’ve asked for that work to be sped up in light of what’s occurred.”
