Council warns of danger near sand cliffs along Warrnambool's main beach

Mayor Richard Ziegeler raised the issue at this week's council meeting after he received a phone call which he described as "a little bit troubling" in relation to safety of people using the beach.

He said the person who contacted him wanted to warn beach users not to sit or stand near the face of those sand cliffs because it was "incredibly unsafe".

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"In some places the cliffs facing the bay are up to five metres high of sand," Cr Ziegeler said.

He said the recent spate of wild weather could account for the issue which he said the council probably couldn't do anything about.

"It's probably something that requires some kind of attention to mitigate the danger to folks that are near the beach when the cliffs are so high and the sand is unstable," Cr Ziegeler said. "It'd be a terrible tragedy."

He invited his fellow councillors to join him in meeting with the concerned resident on Friday. "Chances are the cliffs won't be there when the weather changes, but I'm planning to go and do an inspection there," he said.

It follows a similar warning from council almost two years ago when beach-goers were told of the potentially unstable sand dunes.

Signs have been erected on the beach to alert users of the danger. The council has in the past incorporated washed-up kelp in the dunes to help stabilise dune faces, but this is not always possible.

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