A major change is coming to two popular Sydney beaches right in time for summer.
Randwick City Council has announced lifeguards will patrol Malabar Beach and Little Bay Beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs for the first time.
A total of four extra full-time and 10 part-time lifeguards have been hired as part of the move to protect beachgoers at the popular swimming spots, which began on Friday.
The change comes after a series of near-drownings and incidents, including Sydney’s last fatal shark attack at Little Bay.
Randwick City Council previously only patrolled Maroubra, Coogee and Clovelly beaches despite millions of Sydneysiders travelling to its beaches each season.
Brad Rope and Luke Twitchings from Randwick City Council Lifeguards posted a video to the council’s Facebook page announcing the change.
“Just letting you know we’re initiating a service at Malabar and Little Bay this summer,” Mr Rope said.
Mr Twitchings said the change came due to “increasing numbers across the beaches” and lifeguards having to respond to a number of incidents at the locations.
The community has been pushing for council to extend the patrol to the beaches after responding to at least one incident per day at Malabar and Little Bay.
When that happens, a lifeguard from another beach would have to leave their post and attend the job via jet ski.
Local councils are preparing for a busy summer with an unusually warm Christmas season forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology.
The weather bureau has forecast there will be a “high chance of warmer than usual days and nights across Australia” this summer season.
Little Bay is the location of the city’s last fatal shark attack, after a swimmer was attacked by a monster great white shark in February this year.
It was Sydney’s first fatal shark attack in almost 60 years, with the man’s remains later found as onlookers watched in horror.
Randwick Mayor Philipa Veitch said with the summer forecast to be hot and dry, five million visits are expected to the beaches.
“We want to do everything we can to reduce the risk that a day at the beach turns to tragedy. Expanding our Lifeguard services means we’ll have more staff able to respond more quickly,” she said.
The mayor said the decision to introduce more lifeguards followed five water-related fatalities at Little Bay since January 2022 and a major incident at Malabar Beach.
Lifeguard Peter Halcro said the number of beachgoers has increased massively in the area since Covid began in 2020.
“There weren’t nearly as many people at the beaches in the past as there are now,” he said.
“My career spans over 40, so I’ve encountered many more serious incidents. Having Lifeguards there is a good thing for residents and visitors.”