A long-term Dudley Beach surfer holds grave concerns that increased visitation and traffic congestion at the unpatrolled beach could cost someone's life if action isn't taken.
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Andrew McElroy said he had visited Dudley Beach for about 40 years and never seen the access road as congested as it has been in the past eight or so weeks.
On a recent weekend, he said he had to direct traffic as cars were stuck trying to get through for about 40 minutes.
"National Parks and Wildlife have done a great job improving the amenities, but unfortunately what it's done is attracted people and created a situation where people can't come up and down to the beach because cars are parked on each side of the road," Mr McElroy said.
Added to this is the fact Dudley Beach is unpatrolled. Mr McElroy said he has been involved in multiple beach rescues and worries how an ambulance would access the site on a busy day.
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Now Sydney-siders are free to travel and the weather is warming up into summer, Mr McElroy said he "honestly would not like to think" how much worse the problem could get.
"It's an unpatrolled beach where there's no access to a lifesaving club - it's leading into a really dangerous situation," he said. "People have got caught in rips and really got themselves into trouble. How would an ambulance get down there?
"I honestly think it's going to cost someone's life. I'm not trying to be overdramatic, but it doesn't take too much for someone to drown."
Mr McElroy said the problem had been exacerbated by increased development in the surrounding area, and believed developer contributions should be going towards upgrading this type of infrastructure.
The beach and access road are managed by National Parks and Wildlife Service, which said the carpark capacity had recently been improved and "increased visitation to local destinations due to COVID-19 is expected to stabilise as domestic and international travel continue to open up".
"All Surf Life Saving rescue services are provided by Surf Life Saving Australia," a spokesperson said. "While Dudley Beach is not patrolled, we can only recommend that people follow beach safety experts' advice to swim between the flags on nearby patrolled beaches to stay safe while swimming."
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Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
