With a number of near-drownings in the area, council-employed lifeguards at Yamba have started their Easter patrols a day early.
With no lifesaving personnel on the beach yesterday three people were rescued from the surf, in heavy seas, by other beachgoers. Heavy seas are predicted again for today.
Up the coast at Ballina, the local lifesaving club is already looking ahead to next year, after ‘a pretty dangerous season’. The club’s chief training officer Rod Balkin said the group is ‘looking for more people to help out’ and is planning a bronze medallion course before the start of the next season.