Buoys to be installed at Fingal Head within days at beach where Tomoe Ogisu drowned

FINGAL HEAD lifebuoys could be fast-tracked and fixed to the headland in northern NSW within a week after another tragic drowning, according to a local MP.

Emergency services undertook a significant recovery operation this morning to retrieve the body of Tomoe Ogisu.

NSW Government officials have signed off on paperwork to install lifesaving buoys at Fingal Head, days after the drowning of a Japanese backpacker.

The death of 22-year-old Tomoe Ogisu — the fourth at Fingal in less than three years — sparked renewed calls for flotation devices, which were supposed to have been installed by Christmas last year.

Yesterday Tweed MP Geoff Provest told the Bulletin he was hopeful the “angel rings’’ would be installed “in a week or two” after the Government signed off on installation of the lifesaving rings.

Tomoe Ogisu, 22, jumped into water at the headland with a friend before getting caught in a rip and drowning. Photo: Facebook/Instagram

“I’m trying to fast-track them,” Mr Provest said.

“I’m hopeful of that. I’ve been lobbying the corridors of power.

“They won’t save everyone. It’s not a sugar pill, people still have to be responsible for their actions. All we can do is try.”

Mr Provest had previously pushed for the installation of the buoys after the tragic death of 20-year-old Dylan Carpenter off Dreamtime Beach in October last year.

Fingal beach. Picture Glenn Hampson

He said there was also a push for installation of a Surf Life Saving NSW emergency response beacon on the headland.

But at a cost of $35,000, position and timing of installation would still need to be debated, he said.

“I’m having a roundtable meeting soon with police, surf lifesaving, council and other government officials,” Mr Provest said.

Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steven Pearce said placing a beacon at the headland was just one of a number of ways to make the area safer.

Ryan Martin who died in an attempt to save a family from drowning at Fingal headland, just south of the Gold Coast, on the afternoon of Friday, March 25, 2016. Source: Instagram

“One was recently installed in (Cronulla) and within a month it went off and it saved two people,” he said.

However, he warned swimmers to stay within the flags and to avoid entering the surf where it was unpatrolled.

“If we can’t see people, we can’t save you,” he said.

But Tweed councillor James Owen said placing buoys and beacons along the notorious stretch of beach might not be the answer.

Dylan Carpenter drowned during a surf at Fingal Headland. Photo: Facebook.

“It’s unpatrolled because it’s so treacherous,” he said.

“Obviously it’s tragic what happened, but I think ... a sign saying how many people have drowned here might actually be more effective in deterring people. The buoys are all well and good, but you don’t want people in there in the first place.”

Friends of Tomoe Ogisu who drowned at Fingal Head brought flowers to Fingal Head Surf Life Saving Club the day his body was found.

The Tweed Council said in a statement signs warned the beach was dangerous.

“Everyone at Tweed Shire Council is saddened to hear of the death of a swimmer at Dreamtime Beach (on Wednesday),’’ the council said.

“This is an unpatrolled area known by locals to be dangerous for swimmers and there is signage in place at every access point alerting people to this fact. We conduct regular audits of these signs to ensure they are prominent and visible and the last of these audits took place on December 20 2017.”