Surf lifesavers call for extra funding after six people drown in one weekend

Tuesday, 24 January 2023

Surf Lifesaving NZ is looking for more funding from Auckland Council following a horror weekend of drownings. (File photo)

Rescuers are looking for more money to patrol unmanned beaches and extend hours at others, to help get on top of drownings.

Six people died in water-related incidents in the Auckland region over the weekend.

Surf Lifesaving New Zealand (SLNZ) is now looking for an extra $455,000 from Auckland Council to help boost its presence.

All six drownings happened at locations where lifeguards aren’t stationed or where patrols had finished for the day.

* Person has died after water-related incident at Tāwharanui Peninsula

Video from the air shows the rocky shore and surf that makes drone technology so helpful for lifeguards at Sunset Beach, Port Waikato.

* Public urged to swim at patrolled beaches after five die in water over the weekend

SLNZ northern region chief executive Matt Williams said there had been a “significant increase” in the amount of money the organisation was seeking from the council this year.

The organisation raises revenue through a number of streams – including central and local government funding as well as its charity – but would need a boost to staff beaches growing in popularity, Williams said.

One person drowned at unpatrolled Anchor Bay at Tāwharanui Regional Park on Saturday. (File photo)

On the cards for added patrols were two unmanned beaches to Auckland’s north, Te Arai and Tāwharanui – where at the latter a person drowned over the weekend.

The extra funding would ensure beaches were adequately patrolled and for longer, with the changes coming into effect next summer, he said.

“Simply put, if you swim at a patrolled beach, during patrol hours, in between the flags, you are going to have a lifeguard nearby who can respond immediately if something happens,” he said.

“If you swim at an unpatrolled beach, or outside patrol hours, you are placing yourself at an incredible risk.”

The drowning at Tāwharanui Regional Park’s Anchor Bay happened on Saturday.

Meanwhile, two people also drowned at unpatrolled beaches on Friday: one at Narrow Neck Beach on Auckland’s North Shore, and another at Big Manly Beach on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula.

The man who died at Big Manly Beach was 65-year-old local man Paul Ramsey, police confirmed.

A post-mortem examination would be completed later this week.

On Saturday, one person died at Takapuna. Two men, Saurin Nayakumar Patel and Anshul Shah, died at North Piha on Saturday evening, despite United North Piha lifeguards’ attempts to rescue them after patrols had ended for the day.

A spokesperson from the Indian High Commission said officials were in touch with family members of the deceased both in New Zealand and in India and were providing assistance.

“We are deeply distressed by the unfortunate incident.”