Snapshot of Facts:

• Northern Beaches Council has issued a shut down notice this week to Avalon based, Barrenjoey Swim School, which has operated as a home, based small business for over 10 years. 
• After one site inspection In December by NBC (10 years on from successful operation) as a result of a complaint from a neighbour, NBC have re-classified this small business - which teaches only 2 lanes of small group swim classes at a time, for a few hours in the morning and afternoon M-F, during school term only - as a 'recreational facility', enabling them to then use an R2 zoning law to issue a shut down order.
• Not only has this dramatically impacted the owners, who now face a small business closure and an end to their income source with only 85 days notice after two years of restrictions and closures, hundreds of local families who rely on this ESSENTIAL service are now left without options in the local area. 
• Drowning statistics are significantly UP due to the limitations of learn to swim options for children as a result of lockdowns. Our locality has very few options within a 20k radius and larger schools are full. Larger schools do not also cater to children with special needs, sensory issues, ADHD, autism, the small, caring, calm teaching environment has made the world of difference to many families at Barrenjoey Swim School.
• We ask for your review of the below and a signature of support to put to NBC for urgent and immediate review.

Damien and Lucie Geyle have been running the Barrenjoey Swim School in Avalon for over a decade. They are loved and respected by the hundreds of families and children in the area who rely on their service of offering world-class learn to swim instruction in a small, peaceful and exceptionally run operation from their home-run business.

They have taught thousands of children on the Northern Beaches to swim and have taught critical, life saving, water safety techniques to babies and toddlers. They  have offered the Avalon Beach community a feeder of confident, water safe children and teenagers to go on to become nippers, junior lifesavers and eventually patrol our beaches and save lives. Water safety begins at a very young age. Their program is critical to a community with over 1,100 children aged 0-9 living in the immediate vicinity who grow up surrounded by water. There has been a 25% uplift in drownings since the lockdowns of COVID have placed such disruption to learn to swim operators who teach life saving skills to babies, toddlers and primary aged children.

The Northern Beaches Council has this week served a notice of closure to Barrenjoey Swim School. They have cited a noise issue and have made this decision after one site visit to a neighbouring property and decided to re-classify BSS as a recreational facility.

This now prevents them operating in an R2 zone. Northern Beaches Council CEO, Ray Brownlee has been quoted as saying “While this outcome will no doubt be disappointing for patrons of the swim school, residents do need to operate within the law so as to not impact on neighbours".

The Northern Beaches council have demonstrated NO transparency, NO solution exploration, NO logic and NO consideration to the operation of a very hard working small business who offers an ESSENTIAL service to the community on the Peninsula.

Please, whether you are a current swim community family, former swim community family, resident who values health and safety of children in the locality, a small business owner or someone who simply wants transparency and accountability and community considered decisions to be made by the Northern Beaches Council - show your support and help #savebarrenjoeyswimchool