THRILL seekers are being told not to jump off the rocks into the bay at the Pillars, Mount Martha.
The safety advice follows two recent incidents where jumpers have been seriously injured while attempting to jump.
On Friday 12 January a person was airlifted to the Alfred Hosital with suspected neck injuries. One week earlier a 20-year-old man was taken to hospital with neck pain after attempting a jump and being rescued by emergency services.
Just weeks before that a 12-year-old girl attempted a pin jump from the cliffs and broke both legs and her ankle. She was being filmed by her father who was watching from a boat.
The Pillars is on Crown land owned by the state government and managed by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council.
The mayor Cr Simon Brooks said it was a difficult situation with “no easy solutions”.
“Fencing off the area didn’t work. Instead, we have improved the signage clearly warning people of the dangers of this area and closed some of the informal paths to the site,” he said.
“We also introduced parking restrictions in the surrounding residential streets to make it harder for people to visit the site. These measures have vastly reduced the number of complaints we receive.
“The Pillars is a fragile coastal cliff formation with changeable water conditions influenced by tides and weather.
“Standing or sitting on the rock or the cliff edge poses a very high safety risk and we urge people not to enter the site.”
The Pillars is within Mount Martha Foreshore Reserve and has become known around the world as a scenic spot for cliff-jumping.
Many residents would prefer to see the cliff fenced off to discourage summer sightseers from causing traffic congestion, walking along the Esplanade, leaving rubbish and creating a public nuisance.
First published in the Mornington News – 16 January 2024
