Hobart councillors Ryan Posselt, Zelinda Sherlock hatch plan to restore Cornelian Bay beach for swimming

There is a push for a Hobart beach to be remediated after it was closed to swimmers 20 years ago, igniting hope that it could one day be opened up to the public again.

A child playing in the water at Cornelian Bay in the year 2000.

A plan has been hatched to reopen a beloved Hobart beach to swimmers nearly 20 years after it was closed due to concerns about poor water quality.

A swimming ban was implemented at Cornelian Bay in 2006 as a result of the environmental impacts of sand mining and upstream industrial operations.

Now Hobart councillors Ryan Posselt and Zelinda Sherlock have launched a push to remediate the beach and restore it to its former glory.

Boat sheds at Cornelian Bay today. Picture: Kelvin Ball

The pair will move a motion at a council meeting on Monday to authorise Hobart City Council chief executive officer Michael Stretton to work with the Derwent Estuary Program in establishing a water monitoring program in the bay to evaluate current quality levels.

Mr Posselt and Ms Sherlock are also hoping a report can subsequently be provided to the council detailing “future remedial options for improving water quality”, with the ultimate aim of ensuring swimming can again be permitted at Cornelian Bay in accordance with the Public Health Act.

“There are lots of people in their 70s, 80s and 90s that recall swimming [at Cornelian Bay] post-World War II,” Mr Posselt said.

City of Hobart councillor Ryan Posselt. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“There are major health benefits to being able to access clean water to swim in, particularly cold water swimming. And this beach, Cornelian Bay, would be the northernmost accessible swimming place in Greater Hobart. So it would actually open the Derwent [River] up to the northern catchment area.

“I think that you should have access to the water regardless of your postcode.”

Council officers have expressed support for the motion, noting that the council had not “prioritised a great deal of work to specifically look at improving the water quality” at Cornelian Bay since a management plan for the area was developed in 2006.

Hobart's beaches were crowded places at the end of 1940, with local temperatures nearing 32 degrees. The Mercury captured the scene at locations including Cornelian Bay and Long Beach.

“At the time that the plan was developed, the council did not have a system to follow up on poor readings and work out how to solve them,” a response to the motion from the council administration said.

“Given that the council is currently preparing a Cornelian Bay Master Plan, it does make sense that attention is focused on the water quality within the bay, particularly with the national and international focus on improving water quality and increasing swimming opportunities in previously contaminated water bodies.”

It’s estimated that undertaking additional laboratory water testing in the bay would only cost the council $564, while there is also likely to be a cost associated with working with the Derwent Estuary Program to use marine craft and conduct the sampling.

Originally published as Hobart councillors Ryan Posselt, Zelinda Sherlock hatch plan to restore Cornelian Bay beach for swimming