Nathan Davies: Push to make part of Henley Beach for paying customers is a terrible, un-Australian idea
“UN-Australian” is a lazy slur but in the case of a bid to make part of Henley Beach exclusively available to paying customers in lounge chairs, Nathan Davies says he is making an exception.
- Furore over plan to reserve part of Henley Beach for paying customers
- Paid parking at Henley Square to go ahead
THE beach is our birthright.
As the culture wars over statues of dead white blokes and the date of Australia Day rage on, and an actual war percolates not that far to our north, the beach is a refuge. A place of escape.
It’s the closest thing we have in Australia to a universal church.
Many of our myths and legends as a country take place in the bush, but the truth is we’re a coastal people. Eighty five per cent of Australians live within 50km of the shore, and many live much closer than that.
It’s a given that in a hot and dry continent the best living is always going to be by the sea.
We’re a country where surf contests make the six o’clock news bulletins and Mick Fanning is a household name, and a country where shark scares regularly feature on the front page.
The recent death of sixties surf legend Midget Farrelly featured across national media — it’s hard to imagine that happening in Europe or the US or anywhere else in the world beyond perhaps Hawaii.
The beach brings us all together. Black and white, Christian and Muslim, Power and Crows — none of it matters when you’re in your boardies or speedos, cooling off in the Gulf St Vincent after a long, hot day at work.
Which is why Charles Sturt Council’s plan to bring in hired sun lounges with table service on Henley Beach — one of Adelaide’s most popular swimming spots — is a terrible one.
I hate the term “un-Australian”. It’s a lazy slur usually thrown about by people angry that people might have a different view to their own. In this case, however, I’m making an exception.
Reserving any part of the beach for people who have more money than others is un-Australian.
The announcement of plans for a “VIP area” at Henley, where the tanned and gorgeous can have acai bowls and coconut-water cocktails delivered to their recliners while they perfect their Instagram poses, comes hot on the heels of the paid parking rollout in the area.
If the council is actually looking for ways to actively discourage people from using Henley Beach then they’re doing a stellar job.
Because here’s the thing — all of Adelaide’s beaches are pretty much the same. Now before you pen an angry letter to the editor, hear me out. Our coastline — from Osborne in the north to Kingston Park in the south — is one long stretch of west-facing coastline.
The water is generally flat, the view of the sunset is generally excellent, and the parking is, in most cases, free. It’s not like Sydney where you have rugged ocean beaches, separated by rocky headlands, and calm beaches inside the harbour. It’s not like Perth where you can choose from the ocean or the river. It is, for all intents and purposes, one beach.
Which is why, when you’ve knocked off and you’ve pointed the nose of the Commodore west for an after-work dip, a lot of people are going to drive straight past Henley. They’ll go to Grange and Semaphore, Seacliff and Somerton — anywhere they can park for nothing and not have to walk through the Amalfi Coast wannabes to get to their patch of sand. This won’t be good for business at Henley, it will be the opposite.
There are places on this earth where the concept of a private beach doesn’t cause offence.
Where hotels can rope off sections of the shoreline for the exclusive use of their cashed-up customers. Where high-end resorts can claim exclusivity to the waves that break on the reefs out front. Where inspectors can ask to see your “beach badge” as proof that you’ve paid for the privilege of walking on the sand (hello New Jersey).
Australia, thankfully, is not one of those places.
Any attempt to spread cash and commerce beyond the high-water mark should be resisted and rejected.
Scrap this plan, Charles Sturt Council. And if you want to take away the parking meters while you’re at it, that’d be OK too.