Volunteer patrols at Long Reef have been cancelled this weekend and the club facility closed. 

In consultation with the Northern Beaches Council and Surf Life Saving NSW, the decision was made yesterday to lower the flags on all 21 beaches from Manly to North Palm beach.

As directed by Sydney Northern Beaches Branch of Surf Life Saving NSW, volunteer patrols over the weekend have been suspended. All active patrollers scheduled for patrol this weekend at Long Reef Beach will have already been notified of their patrol cancellation today and tomorrow.

Club Captain, Courtney Halford says, “Thank you to all our active patrollers who are ready and waiting to patrol Long Reef beach. We hope to have all our volunteer patrols back in action, once we have further direction from Surf Life Saving Australia and Surf Life Saving NSW, and it’s safe for the community to attend Long Reef beach again”.

We are still awaiting directions from Surf Life Saving NSW and Surf Life Saving Sydney Northern Beaches branch on what this means for patrols over the Christmas period.

Emergency surveillance will continue to be provided across our beaches

The Northern Beaches Council Lifeguards will be at all 21 Northern Beaches locations providing surveillance. The SLS NSW Northern Beaches branch will also be boosting its Support Operations resources to respond in case of callouts or emergencies.

Our President Peter Kinsey says, “We are in full support of the decision made to cancel volunteer patrols. We urge all our members who live on the Northern Beaches to support the directives of the NSW Government to stay at home across the weekend, and to get tested if you have even mild symptoms. Please stay safe and do not hesitate to contact me should you have any concerns”.

The planned Sydney Northern Beaches surfboat carnival at Long Reef Beach today has also been cancelled.

Unfortunately the planned SNB Surfboat Carnival planned at Long Reef beach and run by our club has also been cancelled. As Surf Life Saving Northern Beaches have communicated on their social media channels “Whilst there is currently no public health warning in place to prevent us from proceeding”. However, given the location of the current Covid-19 cases and the potential increase in case numbers, they have decided to cancel the event in the interests of public health and safety.

Any questions? For any questions patrolling, please contact clubcaptain@longreef.com. For any questions on the SNB Surfboat Carnival, please contact competition.captain@longreef.com

 

Where to find more information

Read the full press release from Surf Life Saving Australia here

The Beachsafe website and app will also be providing up-to-date information.

Visit www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au for information on beach status reports.