A Sydney cafe owner is begging his council not to outlaw an annual Christmas Day beach party after thousands of people showed up and trashed the area with rubbish.
Dave Martin, 53, who runs the Courtyard Cafe in Coogee, has urged Waverley City Council to reconsider a potential ban of its popular ‘Orphan’s Christmas’ backpacker event after its mayor’s vowed ‘never again’ following this year’s event.
Mr Martin said banning the event outright – which was attended this year by up to 15,000 people who were largely backpackers and visitors – would be a ‘kneejerk’ reaction and that council should just come better prepared next year.
He suggested the annual party should be treated more like a festival going forward with proper facilities in place to contain the mess that infuriated locals on Wednesday.
Waverley Council is considering bringing in ticketing access and glass bans after the enormous crowd swarmed the small but popular Bronte Beach and left it a rubbish-strewn wasteland the next day.
This was despite the council already providing 250 extra bins and allocating a dedicated garbage truck to serve the site in a futile attempt to avoid a repeat of the messes that had been left in previous years.
Newly elected Waverley mayor William Nemesh said changes were needed for future Christmas Day parties.
Mr Martin said the council and local community should ’embrace [the party] instead of trying to suppress it’ and use it to the area’s advantage.
A local cafe owner has defended the 15,000 people that showed up for Bronte Beach’s ‘Orphan Christmas’ who left mountains of rubbish behind
Dave Martin (left), who runs the Courtyard Cafe in Coogee, said Waverley City Council just needs to prepare for the event better instead of banning it outright
The cafe-owner recommended hiring extra cleaners, putting up more fencing, adding additional port-a-loo’s and increasing security guards ahead of December 2025 ‘rather than do what Australians are renowned for and banning everything’.
‘They upped the bins this year but obviously it still wasn’t enough. It’s pretty bad, I get that side of things. I’m not saying they shouldn’t take personal responsibility,’ Mr Martin told Newscorp.
‘People come from all over the world to have this day at the beach, it’s a big thing for them,’ he added.
‘All the local businesses embrace it [but] the majority of the [locals] wouldn’t want it. It’s the old thing, the entitlement. It’s one day, let them have it.’
Mr Martin said Waverley should not follow the lead of Randwick City Council which banned alcohol across beaches in Coogee, Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama a decade ago after similar messy Christmas parties.
Despite the trash left behind by the crowds Mr Martin said local business and the state government profit greatly from the flood of tourists coming into the area.
He said the council should stop ‘whining’ and start planning instead since ‘everyone knows’ about the event and that it should not come as a surprise when record-breaking crowds show up year-after-year.
Mr Martin added he was worried Australia was ‘turning into a nanny state’ full of ‘narks’ with its reliance on outright bans as opposed to creative solutions.
Bronte Beach was left trashed by the revellers despite Waverley Council installing an extra 250 bins in preparation for the event
Many locals slammed the mess which they said was ‘disgraceful’
His controversial take on the event that sparked outrage in the community also ignited a debate on social media where he took to posting his ideas for making 2025 better.
Many people who commented on his post slammed Randwick Council for taking such an extreme step as to removing the option to drink alcohol after its own rowdy parties.
‘I’m pissed that as a local, I can’t sit on Coogee Beach grassed area and enjoy sipping a cool, crisp white in the shade on a warm summer arvo. Over-reaction from Randwick Council,’ one person said.
‘I agree. I was there briefly at Bronte for a stickybeak as I was having Christmas up the road. And yes it was crazy full, but fun for those there. It’s like anything, there’ll always be a clean-up. But the [money] these people bring to the local businesses probably outweigh the clean-up costs,’ another added.
There were some however, who embraced the alcohol ban along the city’s eastern beaches.
‘I am glad they banned alcohol on the beach and green areas,’ one woman wrote.
‘I understand you probably have a financial interest but for those of us who don’t … it’s really sad to see how people treat where we live,’ a second woman said in response to the mess revellers left behind.
‘I’m all for an alcohol ban over the Christmas days to reduce the crowds and address the resulting zero f**ks given attitude over the mess they leave behind,’ a third added.
Mr Martin said the flood of cash that tourists brought to the area year-after-year was a godsend for businesses and the state government
He said he was worried Australia was becoming a ‘nanny state’ content on banning everything instead of coming up with creative solutions to embrace the masses
Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh vowed to change beach rules after he personally spent five hours at Bronte Beach cleaning up the mess left behind by party-goers.
‘The majority of the rubbish was cleaned up last night with the beach and park fully cleaned by 9am this morning,’ he said.
‘I acknowledge our residents’ concerns over the level of rubbish and waste, and we will be making changes so that this does not happen again into the future.’
The event has become a mecca for tourists and backpackers celebrating the holiday away from home and is affectionately known as ‘orphans Christmas’ (pictured, revellers)
But despite council’s new ‘Summer Safe’ program, with increased police and crowd control in the area, Cr Nemesh said it was disappointing ‘so much rubbish and waste was still left behind’.
Some locals were infuriated by the idea of the extra costs these measures brought for naught this year.
‘Who paid for this? Probably us ratepayers,’ one social media user said.
‘Next time charge each person $20 for the clean up. That’s a cheap day out at an amazing beach.’
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