Council continues support for surf clubs

Central Coast Council will provide the same financial support for the next four years to Surf Life Saving Central Coast (SLSCC) and its 15 surf clubs that it has in the past four years.

For 2024/25 to 2027/28, Council will provide the annual distribution of $213,500.

A total of $38,000 goes to SLSCC to co-ordinate beach safety activities and educational messaging across the Central Coast while $78,000 will be spent on equipment for the Coast’s 15 Surf Clubs such as Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) motors and hulls; radios; oxygen equipment and rescue boards.

Each club will directly receive $6,500 to support beach safety operations.

In April, Council also adopted a confidential report for new annual fixed tier fees for the renewal of leases for the surf clubs.

In August 2020, Council adopted a Leasing and Licensing Policy, which provided fees, tenure and maintenance responsibilities for all Council’s community facilities.

Lease tenure is typically five years and extends to 10 years based on a community group’s investment into the facility.

“Surf clubs were excluded from the policy at the time, as most clubs had long-term tenure, and have a mix of community and commercial activity in the facility,” Council said.

Council owns and manages 12 surf clubs across the region which are operated by the surf clubs under a lease arrangement.

Additionally, three surf clubs (The Lakes, North Entrance, MacMasters) have direct leases with NSW Government Crown lands and are not Council assets.

Of the 12 Council surf club assets five are on Council land and seven are on Crown land.

Council said it worked with Surf Life Saving Central Coast to develop a realistic and affordable leasing model which aimed to give security of tenure to clubs, ensure the financial sustainability of the facilities and provide consistency and rationale across the leasing model.

Merilyn Vale