Waverley Council acts on Bronte Beach Christmas Day backpacker chaos
An Aussie Christmas tradition has been hijacked by unruly tourists and locals have had enough of the disgusting aftermath.
The Christmas beach visit is an Aussie tradition as central and time-honoured as it gets; however, the more recent tradition of tens of thousands of unruly backpackers descending on this beach has left one local council with little choice except to crack down on unauthorised festivities.
On Monday, Waverley Council in Sydney’s east released its plan to manage the impacts of backpacker parties on Bronte Beach.
“For many years now, groups of predominantly international backpackers have descended on Bronte on 25 December to enjoy the sunshine, surf and festive spirit,” the statement said.
“However, the aftermath of last year’s unofficial event had a significant impact on the community, with excessive noise, anti-social behaviour and litter jeopardising both amenity and safety.”
For two consecutive years, the estimated numbers of Christmas revellers on the beach were in the tens of thousands, with footage of the aftermath showing rubbish and debris strewn across the usually idyllic beach.
“What we saw last year, particularly the mess our community was confronted with on Boxing Day morning, was unacceptable,” Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh said.
“This is not an approved or managed Council event, and while we strongly discourage crowds from attending, we cannot ban people from the beach. That said, we are committed to mitigating the impacts on the community as much as possible.”
At a Council meeting in May, one man remarked how last year, “a thousand people” ran up his street within 10 minutes, prompted by the arrival of drug detection dogs.
Another person said it was easier to shut the whole event off, stating, “police can’t deal with it, they have more important things to deal with than Pommy backpackers having a rave”.
The main features of the mitigation strategy include: an increased police and security presence, additional cleaning services throughout the day and overnight, enhanced traffic management with extra buses, a dedicated emergency services area and more toilet facilities and water stations.
“We cannot stop people from gathering, but Council expects this strategy will go a long way to mitigate concerns raised following the 2024 Christmas Day at Bronte Beach,” Cr Nemesh said.
“While this gathering is not authorised, Council will continue to work closely with police, transport operators, our Rangers and Parks staff, Lifeguards and surf clubs and other key stakeholders to ensure we have the most robust response in place to protect community safety, amenity and the environment.”
Joel Stuhler, who lives nearby, said the options previously presented by the council “condoned the behaviour”, with the situation “getting progressively worse”.
“There’s broken glass outside my home, vomit on my driveway, people making out outside my house, my neighbour got parked in for six hours, it’s just mayhem,” he said.
Another man complained at the Council meeting that the laneway behind his house became a “mass urinal”. Meanwhile, another woman recalled witnessing a punter being “knocked out cold” in a fight, before regaining consciousness only to continue binge drinking.
Waverley Council has said the strategy and its success will be reviewed in the New Year to ensure improvements can be taken on board and that the community will have another opportunity next year to provide feedback.
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Originally published as Waverley Council acts on Bronte Beach Christmas Day backpacker chaos
