NSW: All quiet on the Bondi front

AAP General News (Australia)
12-25-2006
NSW: All quiet on the Bondi front

By Vincent Morello

SYDNEY, Dec 25 AAP - Cool and wet weather, plus the alcohol ban seems to have kept
Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach quiet on Christmas Day.

The mercury has peaked at 26 degrees Celsius today but is far from the record low of
15 degrees set in 1924.

But just 10,000 people today enjoyed the intermittent sunshine at Bondi - one-fourth
of normal number for a summer day of leisure.

"A lot of people, because of the rain this morning, haven't dressed for the beach,"

Waverley Council senior lifeguard Rod Kerr said.

The Christmas Day alcohol ban on the sand and surrounding park areas has also deterred
Sydneysiders and holidaymakers.

The ban began three years ago after consistent reports of disorderly behaviour, public
drunkenness and an unsightly mass of rubbish and glass bottles.

Security guards were positioned at every entrance to the beach and searched bags for
glass bottles and anything containing alcohol.

Only small quantities of alcohol turned up in about one in 20 bags searched, security
guards said.

And council rangers patrolled the park areas for similar contraband.

It appears the alcohol ban may be having an impact.

"I think people from overseas tend to want to have a bit of a picnic and a couple of
drinks, which is fair enough," Mr Kerr said.

Surf rescues are also way down.

Nearly 250 people were rescued one summer day last year, a record for recent times,
but lifeguards performed only 40 on Thursday and have averaged about 20 a day since then,
Mr Kerr said.

Alcohol rarely plays a role in surf rescues, he said.

"We can do 200 in a day but it's purely on the fact of the (sea) conditions at the
beach - it doesn't really matter about the alcohol," he said.

The same goes for behaviour on the beach, which was quite orderly with or without an
alcohol ban, Mr Kerr said.

NSW Police, patrolling the beach and immediate areas, said people were behaving in
an orderly manner.

But they took no chances.

Officers have been conducting random breath tests, stopping vehicles on Campbell Parade
since yesterday.

They will continue well into tomorrow, police said.

AAP vpm/cdh

KEYWORD: XMAS BONDI

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