NOTHING has happened since four people drowned at Forrest Caves on Wednesday, January 24.
No new signs have been erected.
The ‘Warning’ sign with a swimming symbol crossed out in red, is still half buried in the sand at the entrance to ‘Anzacs’ near Cape Woolamai.
But the carpark at Forrest Caves still fills with cars daily, as it did last Sunday and on the warm days this week.
Why not. The location is promoted as a tourist attraction: Come and see the ‘Low tide sea cave’ says the large sign at the entrance to the Forrest Caves carpark, with logos promoting surfing, fishing, walking, nature sights and toilets… but no warning about the risk of drowning.
So no new signs since four people drowned at Forrest Caves on January 24, and earlier drownings at Surf Beach and also Kilcunda, on the same day, Friday, January 12.
No, wait, there is a new sign at Forrest Caves, a private RIP sign for the four victims of the January 24, 2024 tragedy; “RS” Reema Sondhi, 42, “KB” Kirti Bedi, 20, and siblings “SA” Suhani Anand, 20, and “JSA” Jagjeet Singh Anand, 23, all farewelled at a joint Hindi funeral service in Dandenong on Thursday, February 1.
At last Wednesday's Bass Coast Shire Council meeting, council was quizzed during question time about what it had done to boost beach safety since January 1, this year.
“Will council please inform how many beach aquatic safety warning signs has council ordered during the period after January 1, 2024, also would council please describe in detail all actions undertaken by council as a land manager of the Bass Coast to help to warn people and hopefully reduce or stop drownings along our beaches?”
The shire CEO answered on behalf of the council:
“There are currently over 250 safety signs on the council managed land. No further signs have been ordered since January 1, 2024. Council works in partnership with numerous state agencies including Phillip Island Nature Parks, Lifesaving Victoria and Victoria Police to improve water safety along our coastline through safety campaigns, financial support Lifesaving Victoria and maintenance of foreshores on council managed land.”
A number of people are continuing to apply pressure for a complete overhaul of the beach warning signs at Bass Coast beaches.
Public affairs activist, Graham Jolly, said that one of the key recommendations of the ‘Bass Coast Shire Coastal Risk Assessment Report’ which was finally released publicly after almost five years, was that land managers needed “to commit to a systematic monitoring and review process”. The report says: “Continuous monitoring and review of hazards ensures that new hazards are detected and managed and linked to modification or maintenance of existing action plans”.
Another of the recommendations coming out of the drowning black spot report was ongoing reporting, which the report said would “communicate the activities and outcomes, provide information to inform decision-making, improve risk management activities and facilitate interaction with stakeholders”.
Mr Jolly said Forrest Caves beach was often the first beach that unaware visitors arrived at when they came to Phillip Island but he said the beach was promoted as a tourist destination rather than giving prominence to the dangers that exist for intending swimmers.
