Council News Issue No: 182
CITY OF WAGGA WAGGA
FIRST PRINTED SATURDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2018
Weekly information from us to you SHARE THE MESSAGE AND HELP SAVE A LIFE – RESPECT THE RIVER: • Never swim alone • Avoid alcohol around water • Wear a lifejacket • Learn lifesaving skills
COMMON GOAL: Wagga Wagga City Council's Project Coordinator (Parks and Recreation) Peter Cook and Wagga Wagga SES Local Controller Daniel Mahoney look over the new signage at Wagga Beach. Council and the local SES are looking at ways to work together to educate the community about river safety.
Working together on river safety Wagga Wagga City Council and the Wagga Wagga SES will join forces to help reduce tragedies on the Murrumbidgee River.
Swahili. The next key step for Council is working with other organisations such as the SES and Royal Lifesaving Australia to look at ways to improve river safety, and to develop an Inland Water Safety Management Plan. The plan will identify projects, partnerships and strategies to improve safety at the river and inland waterways across the Local Government Area and will be looking at a A number of actions to improve water broad range of options. safety were endorsed by Council late last Councillor Vanessa Keenan, who put a year after staff worked with Royal Lifesaving Notice of Motion to Council last year on Australia to conduct an Aquatic Safety the issue of river safety, said education Assessment at Wagga Beach. through programs such as Bush Nippers is Larger, more prominent signage was something that Council will be assessing. installed at The Rocks before Christmas, a “To make a real change, we need to river safety awareness campaign was held educate our kids,” Cr Keenan said. “For over Christmas and the installation of new signage at Wagga Beach was completed last families on the coast it’s a no brainer that kids are taught about beach safety. week. “For us inlanders, we can get a little All of the new signage is also multilingual complacent and focus on just pool safety. and features six other languages – Arabic, “Any Bush Nippers program needs to be Mandarin, Dinka, Burmese, Tagalog and driven by community. Just like on the coast,
it’s families that drive the success of these types of programs. “The river is a living thing. It changes all the time and conditions are never the same.” Wagga Wagga SES Local Controller Daniel Mahoney said his team were working on a number of initiatives and looked forward to collaborating with Council. “We’re currently developing videos to educate the community as well as getting feedback on their ideas to improve river safety,” Mr Mahoney said. “Together with Council we want to reduce the instances of drowning in the Murrumbidgee River and the new signage and other projects by Council are important aspects of that. “The Murrumbidgee River is one of Wagga Wagga’s greatest assets, but it does have inherent risks and we need to remind the community of that as often as possible. “Rivers can be very hazardous
environments – you can’t see rocks or snags, you can’t swim against the current and the river you swam in today can be completely different tomorrow.” Cr Keenan echoed Mr Mahoney’s message to respect the river. “River safety is everyone’s responsibility,” Cr Keenan said. “We all need to take the time to know the dangers to look after ourselves and our family and friends. “Anyone can get into trouble when swimming in the river. We all need to learn the skills to avoid danger through things such as checking the depth and temperature, avoiding alcohol and looking for submerged objects. “ The community can learn more about inland water safety at www.wagga.nsw.gov. au/riversafety. To share your ideas with the Wagga Wagga SES, visit www.facebook.com/ WaggaWaggaSES.
Council Committees - Expression of Interest
Want to be more involved in decisions that matter to your community? One community member position is now available for the Public Art Advisory Panel.
As a Public Art Advisory Panel member you will provide advice and contribute to public art project management from commissioning to the completion and public launch of artworks.
To apply, simply fill out the expression of interest form available at wagga.nsw.gov.au/committees by 5pm, Tuesday 20 February, 2018.
More info? 1300 292 442 council@wagga.nsw.gov.au wagga.nsw.gov.au