Shire rolling out additional safety measures at Town Beach Jetty

Published on 10 December 2021

The Shire of Broome will be enforcing additional safety measures at Town Beach Jetty with immediate effect.

Due to continued concerns about public safety, the lower jetty at Town Beach will be closed to the public on tides higher than seven metres while further assessment of risk and safety is undertaken.

The decision has been made as several people have had to be rescued from strong tidal currents since the jetty opened.

Additional signage is being placed at the Town Beach Jetty and Shire Rangers will be monitoring usage – particularly in the hours prior to and after high tides.

Shire of Broome president Harold Tracey said it was fantastic that the community had embraced the new jetty, but public safety was paramount.

“This decision has not been made lightly, however there are continued cases of jetty users ignoring signs and placing themselves and others at risk by swimming from the jetty,” he said.

“The latest incident took place on Wednesday afternoon, where a young girl was almost swept away with the current and needed to be rescued.

“The Shire would particularly like to thank those people that have assisted with the rescue, placing themselves at risk to assist.

“It is unfortunate that people have to intervene to ensure public safety.

“To prevent these situations, the ramp and access gates to the ramp and ladders will be closed and controlled by Rangers for all tides higher than seven metres.

“The community is reminded that it is illegal to swim from the jetty.”