Sydney’s beaches are becoming so overcrowded one of them could soon ban surfing.
On a typical summer day, more than 50,000 cram on to the sand at the world-famous Bondi Beach, with the numbers soaring above 100,000 when there are special events.
Waverley Council, which has responsibility for Bondi, is responding by considering a ban on surfers at the northern end near the rock pool.
Sydney’s beaches are becoming so overcrowded one of them could soon ban surfing
On a typical summer day, more than 50,000 cram on to the sand at the world-famous Bondi Beach, with the numbers soaring above 100,000 when there are special events
Kelvin Thomson, a former federal Labor MP who campaigned against higher immigration during his 17 years in parliament, said overpopulation in Sydney and Melbourne could soon see surfing rationed for environmental reasons.
‘Beaches are very well loved and people gravitate to them and you can certainly get pressure on what becomes a scarce resource,’ he told Daily Mail Australia today.
‘There are rationing risks. Beaches in other parts of the world are manifestly overcrowded and people don’t have a genuine capacity to enjoy the beach.
‘Sydney and Melbourne have experienced unprecedented population growth and countries that have 80 and 100 million populations have certainly had problems in relation to their beaches and access to them.’
Former New South Wales premier Bob Carr, who lives at nearby Maroubra, said in decades to come, Sydney’s beaches will be too full for families to visit on weekends.
‘Finding any space on the beach, the pressure of numbers will just render it as not a viable option for people who might want to be there with their kids,’ he told Daily Mail Australia today.
Former New South Wales premier Bob Carr, who lives at nearby Maroubra, said in decades to come, Sydney’s beaches will be too full for families to visit on weekends
‘The things that make Australia attractive are threatened by this mad pursuit of numbers.
‘As night follows day, there’s going to be crowd control on Sydney beaches – it might not be for 10 or 15 or 20 years but the price for our unbridled population growth will catch up with us.’
Mr Carr, a former foreign minister who has since the 1990s championed lower immigration, predicted turnstiles and ticketing would be used in 30 years’ time to rationalise access to Bondi Beach and the coastal walk to Coogee.
‘The inevitability of turnstiles and restricted access is going to be mandated on safety grounds,’ he said.
Under a Waverley Council plan, North Bondi would be a no-go zone with surfers confined to the southern tip
‘The crush of people will mean you won’t be able to do that wonderful stroll looking over the sparkling ocean, casting your eye out for whales.
‘The coastal walkway will resemble Judgement Day in a medieval precipice.’
Greens Waverley councillor George Copeland said Sydney’s eastern suburbs were already some of the most densely populated parts of Australia.
‘In a practical, local sense we are full,’ he said.
‘We don’t really think we need to shoulder more of the pressure.’
Under a Waverley Council plan, North Bondi would be a no-go zone with surfers confined to the southern tip.
Greens Waverley councillor George Copeland said Sydney’s eastern suburbs were already some of the most densely populated parts of Australia and were full
The council said the restrictions were being considered because of ‘residential concerns’ on the 900-metre strip.
The proposed ban has divided surfers and locals and comes just two years after Bondi Beach was named a National Surfing Reserve by the sport’s peak national body.
The council noted that if the plan was implemented it would result in 84 per cent of beach visitors being restricted to southern Bondi.
This congestion in a small zone could heighten the risk of injuries.
Fin restrictions would also push surf lessons to the southern end of Bondi Beach.
Australia’s population is set to surpass the 25 million mark in just three weeks, which is much earlier than the experts had predicted.
Australia’s population is set to surpass the 25 million mark in just three weeks, which is much earlier than the experts had predicted (Sydney trains at peak hour pictured)
The Intergenerational Report, unveiled in 2002, predicted Australia’s population would reach 25 million in 2042.
That was also the year Australia’s immigration rate soared above 100,000, before reaching a peak above 200,000 in 2012.
In 1994, a federal parliamentary inquiry, titled ‘One Nation, Two Ecologies’ predicted Australia’s population would reach 23 million by 2040, a population benchmark that was surpassed in 2013, or 27 years ahead of schedule.
Under a Waverley Council plan, surfers would be restricted to the southern end of Bondi
In 1994, a federal parliamentary inquiry predicted Austrlalia’s population would reach 23 million by 2040, a population benchmark that was surpassed in 2013