Please Stay @ Home these School Holidays

Please stay at home these school holidays, that’s the message I want our community to remember as we head into what’s traditionally a time of the year when friends and family get together and enjoy our great outdoors.

Bellingen Shire Council Mayor, Cr Dominic King, said it was important that our community continued to do the right thing by staying at home and reducing contact with others to prevent the spread of the virus.

“That means staying at home unless you have a reasonable excuse to travel and limiting your movements outside of your home in accordance with the NSW Government’s most recent Public Health Order 2020.”

“The Public Health Order details what are reasonable excuses for leaving your home and how we should not gather in public and limit our social interactions to the people we share our homes with.”

Cr King said following these simple rules would help maintain access to our Shire’s beaches for exercise and potentially avoid the need to close our beaches to prevent the public from swimming, walking or fishing.

“That’s why Council is collaborating Reflections Holiday Park and the NSW Police and Crown Lands Departments to facilitate community access to our beaches, foreshore and parks as long as there is compliance with the Public Health Order which is why we have closed our Shires beaches to 4WD access.”

“Our car parking adjacent the Lido and Boardwalk at Urunga will also be managed to discourage gathering in public, and those wishing to access these areas for the legitimate purpose of exercising must observe onsite with traffic control measures and VMS messaging in these public spaces.”

“These are simple measures we can all follow, and Council Rangers and NSW Police will be conducting regular patrols across our Shire to monitor and enforce the Public Health Order’s gathering in public provisions.”

“If we all continue to do the right thing and play by the rules by only leaving our homes for legitimate purposes and by not gathering in public, then we can all continue to enjoy exercising in our natural surroundings.”

“The careless actions of a few could jeopardise these arrangements and if required, Council in conjunction with Reflections Holiday Park and the NSW Police and Crown Lands Departments will close public access to our Shire’s beaches and parklands.”

“I know that if we continue to remain focussed on working together as a community to do the right thing, by staying at home and not gathering in public, we’ll avoid the need to close our beaches or stop people from swimming, walking or fishing in our Shire.”

“Finally, thankyou in advance for your support and cooperation during these difficult times and I hope you stay safe and well and that you’re connected with your family and friends.”