With up to 10,000 visitors per day expected at Eastern Beach over summer, we have introduced some new safety initiatives to the swimming enclosure.
These initiatives follow Life Saving Victoria’s 2023– 24 Drowning Report, which reported the highest number of drownings on record
for any summer.
These include:
- Full
supervision of the Children’s Pool from 11:00am – 7:00pm daily, with closures of
the pool outside these hours.
- Lifeguard
monitoring of the dive tower and dive boards to ensure rule enforcement
and safety.
- A restriction
on lap and recreational swimming under the dive tower and dive boards
while diving is in progress.
- The temporary
closure of the dive boards due to insufficient clearance depth – the
boards will be moved to a location with greater clearance and re-opened in
the coming days.
- The
installation of a public defibrillator and rescue equipment in the coming
weeks.
Signage will be installed at Eastern Beach to ensure
everyone understands the rules and safety initiatives, and the Children’s Pool
gates will be locked outside supervised hours.
Executive Director City Life Anthony Basford:
The decision to close the Children’s Pool outside supervised hours strikes the right balance to ensure everyone can visit and enjoy their summer at Eastern Beach, then return home safely at the end of the day.
Having the pool open after hours without supervision currently poses an unacceptable risk, especially with the increase in drownings across Victoria.