Update on Greenhill swim rafts

Please find an updated statement below.

“Weymouth Town Council would like to clarify some misunderstanding about the removal of the swim rafts at Greenhill.

“The Council were informed on Thursday 10^th July that the RNLI would not include a platform / pontoon as part of their primary (red and yellow flagged zone) or secondary areas of operation in any lifeguard beach management plan, and so the rafts would not be considered as part of the lifeguard’s immediate responsibilities.

“Although the RNLI quite rightly state that their primary patrol area has not changed, the secondary area has changed significantly within the Beach Management Plan (that the RNLI provide the Council with on an annual basis) and now excludes the area where the rafts were.

“The RNLI have advised that they would not include a platform / pontoon as part of their primary (red and yellow flagged zone) or secondary areas of operation in any lifeguard beach management plan, it would therefore not be considered as part of the lifeguard’s immediate responsibilities. According to the RNLI ‘while lifeguards could and would respond to an incident it would not be appropriate to consider the lifeguards as an integral part of the operator’s risk management plans or risk mitigations.’ As such, the RNLI have suggested it appropriate to consider additional dedicated pontoon based lifeguard provision, which is outside the current scope of the service the RNLI is able to provide.

“Due to the changes brought in by the RNLI and the health and safety implications, one raft was removed on Monday 14^th July, with the two anchor points left in place. Due to poor weather conditions the second raft and the two anchor points from the first raft could not be removed until Wednesday 16^th July. There was no damage to the rafts or incidents during this time; as mistakenly reported by members of the public on social media. The removal was not a cost saving exercise.

“The Council’s insurance provider has confirmed they are currently unable to offer cover due to the increase in risk now that the rafts are not within the RNLI’s primary / secondary areas. Regardless of insurance, Weymouth Town Council retains legal responsibility under Health and Safety legislation and remains committed to taking all necessary steps to ensure public safety.

“We remain committed to trying to find a way to get the rafts returned to Greenhill Beach. To do this we will continue to work with our partners and take advice on how we can achieve this. Our goal is to get the rafts back out in the sea as soon as possible, whilst ensuring that the Council’s legal health and safety obligations are met.

“We will keep you all updated when we have news.”

ENDS