Sydney councils in patrol dogfight

FIFTEEN high-profile Sydney councils are seeking the reinstatement of McDonalds Aerial Patrol shark patrols two years after it pulled out of Sydney beach patrol duties due to a lack of funding.

The member councils of the Sydney Coastal Councils body confirmed yesterday that they would write to NSW Premier Morris Iemma seeking financial support to get our local aerial patrol back in action over the Sydney coastline.

The groups executive officer Geoff Withycombe said it was time for the state government to introduce a suite of options to better reduce the risk of shark attacks.

We do believe the funding of the aerial patrol is a state government responsibility and well be asking that they consider financial support.

The patrol is not just providing a service to swimmers to reduce the risk of shark attack but also to the Coastguard, to the NSW Department of Fisheries with regard to illegal poaching activities, to the Water Police, in bushfire detection, theres a whole host of services helped by this service but they dont get financial support from these agencies, said Mr Withycombe.

Councils have some responsibility for looking after swimmers and we spend many millions of dollars each year in providing lifeguard services but our swimmers are in state waters.

With all the stage agencies making use of the patrols, we think the Premier should kick the can.

The councils involved in the action Botany Bay, Hornsby, Leichhardt, Manly, Mosman, North Sydney, Pittwater, Randwick, Rockdale, Sutherland, City of Sydney, Warringah, Waverley, Willoughby and Woollahra represent over 1.4 Sydney residents and take in the waterways of Broken Bay, Pittwater, Port Jackson, the lower Lane Cove River, Middle and North Harbour, Botany Bay, the Lower Georges and Cooks River and Port Hacking.

When financial support for the Sydney beach patrols dried up, McDonalds Aerial Patrol General Manager Harry Mitchell withdrew the service from the metropolitan region in 2002/2003.

I was not prepared to use Illawarra money to support our Sydney operations, said Mr Mitchell, who welcomed the Sydney Coastal Councils funding plea to the state government, saying he hoped the funding would be forthcoming after a decade spent patrolling the Sydney coastline.

We patrolled the Sydney coastline from 1993 to 2003 and it was sad to see that come to an end.

I welcome the councils move to see the beach patrols reinstated.

The council will also ask the government to provide options for protection of estuarine areas.

Weve had two fatal shark attacks in Middle Harbour it needs to be a priority, said Mr Withycombe.