Council calling for Bondi Beach designs

Waverley Council is calling for designers and architects to workshop concept designs for a new plan of management for Bondi’s beach, park and pavilion.

The plan aims to guide the direction of Bondi Beach over the next ten years, addressing the accessibility to beach and pavilion, and upgrades to beach facilities.

Waverley Mayor Sally Betts said the plan would provide a clear vision for the future of the area.

“We’ve gone out to employ three contractors – just for a short while – to help us look at all the submissions and come up with some concept plans,” she said.

“It’s important that we have a vision for what we want the pavilion to be. At the moment it’s used for quite a few things; it’s a bit of a mix-and-match. It will be very interesting to see the direction the community want us to go.”

Labor Councillor John Wakefield said the plan needs to address what Bondi should become over the next 10 years.

“I think we need to establish an underlying culture of the area. What should Bondi turn into?” he said.

“Do we want it to be an international destination for middle-class people, or do we want it to be an international destination for backpackers? Do we want to see a place that’s mainly for locals, or mainly for tourism? The issue is one of visitation – where people traverse and how they use Bondi.”

Liberal Councillor Joy Clayton said parking and facilities for beachgoers are among the most important issues.

“Parking’s the real problem down at the beach. We definitely have to have a look at that. With the number of people who frequent the beach, we need more facilities down there,” she said.

Ms Clayton said facilities at the Bondi Pavilion should be improved or other facilities upgraded. Expanded facilities could include upgrades to toilets and change rooms at North and South Bondi.

“The pavilion is a heritage building,” Ms Clayton said. “If we can’t upgrade the facilities there to accommodate the number of people coming through the area, we have to look at other areas where we could apply to have other facilities put.”

President of Friends of Bondi Pavilion, Lenore Kulakauskas believes the pavilion should be better maintained, and encouraged the development of the building as a cultural centre.

“A better use needs to be made of the pavilion for all those who live here locally. We have quite a large community of people who are interested in film, in audiovisual display and things like that,” she said.

“We’re looking at encouraging getting those groups to be aware of what the pavilion has to offer, use current spaces and to encourage people to come to the pavilion.”