Lifeguards needed all year round?

The proposal, which is designed primarily to make bathing, swimming and watersports at Benone safer for the general public, are still subject to planning permission being granted by the Department of the Environment.

Safety at Northern Ireland beaches has been highlihgted in recent times, following the tragic death of an 11-year-old girl who got into difficulties while in the water at Portballintrae.

Bethany Cousins celebrated her 11th birthday just weeks ago. She died at Portballintrae after getting into difficulty while in the sea. The Coastguard recovered Bethany from the water before paramedics tried to resuscitate her. She was taken to the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine where she later died.

In a report complied by RNLI, they explain the rationale for applying to make their lifeguard station a permanent fixture. The report asserts that keeping the units there all year round will not only take account of changes in the lifeguard season, but that having to remove and install the units every year would be less damaging to the protected environment of Magilligan.

The report read: “The RNLI is appointed by Coleraine and Limavady Councils to carry out a Lifeguard service on the beaches at The Causeway Coast, in particular Portstewart Strand and Benone Strand.

“The RNLI has had a number of meetings with representatives of NIEA, Coleraine Council,

Limavady Council and Strand Owners - at Portstewart National Trust and at Benone

Limavady Council. The Lifeguard Units were positioned in June 2011 and unfortunately an agreement cannot be met with the RNLI and NIEA to keep them in their current locations.

“Therefore, following a meeting with Lee Jones, Scientific Officer, as request was made to relocate the Lifeguard Units in front of the dune systems and in the beach car parks.

“After discussions with the Landowners for both beaches they are not willing to have the Lifeguard units located in the beach car park.

“The Lifeguard Service generally runs on a seasonal basis between June and September every year, however, to provide a more flexible approach to this situation the RNLI would like to keep the Lifeguard Units in place all year round to accommodate any changes in the Lifeguard season. Also, this will help reduce costs of removal and installation of the unit.”

It adds: “The original planning application suggested that the LG units be installed in May and removed in September of use year. After consideration is was decided to leave these units in place so as not to disturb the beach and dune twice a year. This means that the impact on the beach and dune system was minimised to one event, the actual installation.

“The current location for both units is the absolute best for observations of the beach and bathing zone. The locations give the best public visibility of the LG unit so that members of the public know where the LG’s are located and where help can be sought in an emergency.

“This all works out of hours and out of season as the LG units give advice, via large signage,

to contact the Coastguard on 999 in an emergency. Historically, on both beaches users have congregated in front of the LG units locations and we found that this was the same for the 2011 season, showing again that the units are in the correct location.”

The RNLI also provided some background to the planning service to go further towards explaining the rationale for keeping the lifeguard units in place: “Since its inception in 2001 the Royal National Lifeboat Institutions Lifeguard service has grown to operate over 160 Beach Lifeguard Units (BLUs) on beaches throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The RNLI believes it can make a significant difference to safety on our beaches by providing an integrated rescue service from the beach to the open sea.

“The principle Operational Requirement of these units is to provide clear unobstructed observations of the bathing area: secondary to this is to provide suitable working accommodation for the lifeguards.

“The Beach Lifeguard Unit will be for lifeguard use only. Access by the general public is only permitted in an emergency situation. The unit will be in place as Jong as our contract with the local council continues.”