Aussie council urges tourists to stay away from seaside town

Despite it being summer, a NSW council has urged locals and tourists to avoid a seaside town known for its picturesque surfing beaches, lighthouse and picnic spots.

Mid-Coast Council has warned that people should stay away for 'safety reasons' from Seal Rocks, a Barrington Coast settlement in NSW.

"Please consider exploring other parts of our region over the coming days, as the amount of people in Seal Rocks is causing traffic and emergency access hazards," they said on their Facebook page. "Council staff are currently out and about in the area moving people on."

A councillor told NBN News that due to the area's infrastructure, emergency vehicles aren't able to squeeze past when the area is blocked off by reckless visitors who are parked illegally, which often happens during the summer holidays.

"(There's) only one way to get in and only one way to get out, and at the moment the cars are parking and actually blocking the road off," the councillor said. "We can’t get emergency vehicles in there, we can't get our waste services vehicles in there."

He even went further to say that the council is "issuing a lot of tickets at the moment" for those who "aren’t compliant" and that Seal Rocks will continue to have "a very high enforcement presence".

"There's 196km of coastline in the mid coast, so there’s more than one beach to go to," he said.

Since the announcement on Wednesday, warning signs for illegal parking have been put up.

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Locals react to Council announcement

The seaside village is home to around 150 people and is usually a quiet area, with locals believing warning signs for illegal parking should be displayed "every day" due to the inconvenience caused.

However most people took to criticising the council for not fixing the village's infrastructure, given that this is an ongoing issue.

"I guess that's what happens when you promote the Barrington Coast but don’t have the amenities or infrastructure to sustain it," one person said on Facebook.

"This is ridiculous! Ever since the road was sealed the traffic has increased but not one extra car park has been provided," another claimed.

"And yet our council is obsessed with development and 'growing' the area," a third person said.

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