Busy day at beaches

Press, 7 January 1983, Page 4

Busy day at beaches

Christchurch beaches yesterday had one of the busiest week-days of the summer. Warm north-westerly conditions and a calm sea meant that lifeguards had an easy day. One of the main problems lifeguards have encountered since they began work a week before Christmas are dogs on the beach. At New Brighton, one of the more popular beaches, dogs have been a big problem. “They tend to get together in packs and run about, some of them scaring the little children,” said a lifeguard, Ms Sharon Semmens.

In recent years, most local authorities have introduced by-laws to restrict dogs on beaches. At Waimairi Beach a sign has recently been erected banning dogs altogether. A new by-law of the parks and recreation department of the Christchurch City Council has just been gazetted, prohibiting does from the main

swimming areas on all beaches.

The supervisor of Christchurch’s paid lifeguards, Mr Neville Duckmanton, said that although there were bylaws, people often ignored them, and there were many stray dogs found at the beaches. “All we can do is to tie them up and telephone the City Council rangers” he said.

“It is a matter of having to have someone on the beaches to enforce the by-laws," he said.

The recreation manager of the parks and recreation department, Mr A. J. Patterson, said that the new bylaw, gazetted in the last few days, would mean that the rangers would start a “dog blitz” at the beaches. The beaches were on the rangers’ normal daily rounds, and they would take any dog they found to the pound, Mr Patterson said. “This will be enforced. I

suggest that people keep their dogs well away from the main swimming areas in future,” he said. Surfers riding waves between the flags are another problem faced by lifeguards at the beaches. This is breaking another city by-law, but the problem has not been very bad because of the indifferent weather, which has drawn few swimmers into the Water. “Most of them have been fairly co-operative and will move away to a different area if they are asked,” said Miss Mary Gibson, a lifeguard at North Beach. Mr Duckmanton said the surfers did not seem to realise how big a danger they were to swimmers.

There have been very few rescues at any of the Christchurch beaches this year. “It has been a really good year so far. The big surf has not coincided with the good weather,” Mr Duckmanton said.

Glass was a problem on all beaches, especially at Taylors Mistake, where vandals had broken the windows of the surf club.

“We spent a lot of time trying to get all the glass off the beach there,” Miss Gibson said.

Some lifeguards are worried about the days before children return to school and when the paid lifeguards will have finished their work—the last few days of January. Last year, schools resumed on Tuesday, February 2. On Monday, February 1, Sumner and Taylors Mistake beaches had one of the biggest days for rescues during the 198182 summer.

This year there will be no lifeguards on duty on the last day of the school holidays, Monday, January 31.

“We will just have to hope that surf club members are on the beach themselves that day.” Mr Duckmanton said.