Told to Leave Public Beach
Tangalooma Resort security wrongly told family to leave public beach and mooring
Posted on 01.05.2018
A Brisbane family says they were left shocked and outraged when a security guard on Moreton Island tried to force them off a public beach, claiming nearby Tangalooma Resort held exclusive rights to the area.
The security guard was acting at the behest of resort management, but the resort is built on crown land and the Department of Natural Resources, Mines, and Energy confirmed the beachfront is public space.
Lisa Wilkins told the ABC she was swimming in front of the resort with her partner and eight-year-old daughter on Good Friday in late March when they were approached by a security guard.
She said she was “flabbergasted” by what they were told.
“He called us out of the water to come over to him and he said: ‘You can’t swim here, and you can’t be on this beach, it’s a private beach and you can’t moor your vessel there’,” she said.
“We said, ‘we’re just swimming, it’s low water — you can go away’.
“And he said, ‘well don’t go anywhere up near the resort’.
“I said, ‘well we’re not moving our boat and we’re not stopping swimming. Goodbye. Leave us alone’.
“He ended up going about five metres away from us and sitting there for a while, making sure that we were knowing that he wouldn’t be leaving us alone.”
Tangalooma Island Resort is built on crown land but is able to operate under a State Government lease managed by the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy.
It also holds a ‘permit to occupy’ over the public beach, giving it special privileges and responsibilities to run minor operations on a public area, but this does not provide exclusive access.
When the department became aware of the incident, it issued a warning to the resort’s management, reminding them the beach remains public space …
Source
ABC News
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