New beach safety devices installed along Tweed Coast

Tweed Shire Council has partnered with Surf Life Saving NSW to install a suite of new beach safety devices along the length of the Tweed Coast, improving safety for swimmers and surfers just in time for the busy summer season.

Rescue tubes have been installed at nine beach locations along the length of the Tweed Coast, to aid rescuers trying to assist people struggling to stay afloat in the water until additional help arrives. This is particularly important if no lifeguard or surfboard is available for assistance during these crucial moments.

Council is also working with Surf Life Saving NSW and Surf Life Saving Australia to install a new emergency response beacon (ERB) on the beach just south of Norries Headland at Cabarita. Once installed, individuals will be able to press a button to call for help and the Surf Life Saving NSW Support Operations Centre will respond to assist.

Council Manager Parks and Active Communities Murray Smith said the devices would save lives and shared "we are pleased to be working together with Surf Life Saving NSW to roll out these beach safety devices across the Tweed Coast to make our beaches safer for the community.

"Our open beaches in the Tweed are notorious for rips and sweeps so it is paramount we have these safety devices readily available for the community to use in an emergency.

"We know these safety devices will save lives and that's the goal here, to make our beaches safer, especially outside of patrol hours. We are excited for these to be in place, just in time for our peak summer season."

Surf Life Saving NSW - Lifeguard Australia Tweed Supervisor Lachlan Field welcomed the new safety devices.

Field advised "last season was a busy one for our lifeguards on the Tweed who conducted 95 rescues, 168 first aids and over 40,000 preventive actions.

"More than 500,000 people were recorded using our beaches on the Tweed last season. The introduction of these safety devices is a great initiative as they extend the safety net at unpatrolled beaches and outside patrol hours.

"It's important if someone is going to use these tubes that they call Triple-0, assess the risk and only enter the water if they're a confident swimmer."

The rescue tubes are installed at the following locations:

• Tweed Heads - Jack Evans Boat Harbour – Places to Swim (central beach area)

• Fingal Head - Fingal Rovers Surf Life Saving Club

• Fingal Head - Dreamtime Beach (attached to emergency beacon)

• Kingscliff - North Kingscliff Beach (attached to emergency beacon)

• Kingscliff - Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club (in front of café attached to SLSC)

• Salt Surf Life Saving Club beach entry

• Cabarita Beach Surf Life Saving Club beach entry

• Hastings Point – Cudgera Creek river mouth (end of Peninsula St – along 4WD access)

• Pottsville – Mooball Creek river mouth (northside).

The beach safety project followed a joint Notice of Motion by Councillors James Owen and Chris Cherry in November 2023. Their notice was inspired by community advocacy, particularly from local resident and adult-learn-to-swim specialist Graham Dietrich, who heads the 'Float to Survive' campaign in the Tweed.

Purchase and installation of the rescue devices has been funded by Tweed Shire Council, who will also oversee maintenance of the equipment. Please notify Council of any usage, loss, or damage to the equipment by scanning the QR code on the storage box.

A map of where the beach safety devices are located can be found on Council's website. 

Image top. Lifeguard Australia's Lachlan Field and Finn Whitney alongside Council's Murray Smith at the location of the newly installed rescue tube at Cabarita Beach. Image below. A map showing the location of the 9 rescue tubes along the Tweed Coast. Credit: Tweed Shire Council