Community Safety - Boom Gate for Carpark at Eimeo SLSC for Nippers

Residents draw to the attention of council:

Over the past few years, we have had a number of near misses with vehicle to person interactions on Nippers days in the carpark directly in front of the Eimeo Surf Life Saving Club. Last seasons near miss a Hippy Camper van almost reversed over a child on a Sunday morning was only stopped due to the intervention of a vigilant parent. Due to the layout of the Club house and the beach, on Nippers days kids need to walk between the club house and the beach through the carpark. This includes accessing the toilet as it is located on the other side of the carpark (this causes further issues for our patrollers on busy beach days where kids often run through the carpark to use the shower or go to the toilet without parents and fail to look out of vehicles). A core foundation of the Eimeo SLSC is rigorous risk management to protect our members and the public. We have consulted our members and the general public on ways we can manage the risk of vehicle to person interactions in the carpark between the club house and the beach. The consensus is that an Engineering Control of a boom gate is required to effectively control this risk when there are children around. The Club has previously used signage in an attempt to control the risk with limited effect.

We the undersigned request that council give consideration to:

The Eimeo Surf Life Saving Club is requesting a boom gate be installed at the entrance to the carpark at the Eimeo Surf Life Saving Club to enable the Club to restrict vehicle access in the carpark directly in front of the Surf Club during Nippers mornings and other events where children are present. The Club is prepared to cover the cost of this boom gate if required (however would appreciate some council assistance from Council to achieving this outcome).