As most of you are aware, the Garie Road has collapsed stopping all access to Garie Beach. The original plan was to have the road repairs completed by the end of August so we would be good to go for the new season. Unfortunately, the recent rain events have caused more of the road to fail and it is now going to be a massive job to reinstate the road.
The current situation is that the road has become so dangerous that even foot traffic has been banned from using Garie Road. This situation will remain in place till at least the end of the 2022 2023 season.
The Board have had a number of meetings with key players to look at our options for the coming season. It was agreed that Garie SLSC would continue operations for this season however, as there is no access to Garie Beach, there will be no patrols at Garie.
We are aware that there are some people needing to complete their IRB awards and some to do their Bronze Medallion. Surf Life Saving Sydney are looking to find a suitable beach for the IRB exams to be held and those candidates will be notified of how that is progressing. Anyone wishing to do their Bronze, or other awards,
please contact Mikala (education@garieslsc.com.au) or Jess (captain@garieslsc.com.au)
so we can make arrangements for your training.
The main objective of the club this season will be to keep our members engaged and actively involved. Following are the options the Board feel would best serve these objectives.
- Garie SLSC to patrol at Wattamolla this season. Patrols will continue as normal but at Wattamolla, ie Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays, instead of at Garie. This option would allow us to continue to conduct training, run beach events and keep our members together throughout the season.
- Set up arrangements to assist the Illawarra Clubs with their patrol. We would envisage a similar arrangement as we currently have with visiting clubs at Garie. The issue with this is the extra travel distance and there would be no “home base” for training, club races, etc. However the patrols would still be the conventional type patrol we are all use to doing, just on a different beach.
You will receive a brief survey shortly so you can look at the patrolling options for the season and have a vote on how to proceed. These options will be discussed further at our AGM, to be held 2:00pm Saturday 6th August at Engadine Pub. It would be good if all patrolling members could attend this meeting so everyone can be updated and have their say. But please feel free to contact myself or Jess if you have any questions.
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