By Megan Gorrey
The revamp of the damaged seawall at Vaucluse’s Nielsen Park has been further stalled by building defects, dashing hopes the popular eastern suburbs beach would reopen by the start of summer.
Weeks after residents were told construction works would probably be completed by the end of November, and that the beach would reopen as soon as possible, NSW Parks and Wildlife Service said defects found in concrete stairs at the site had delayed the expected completion date to mid-December.
Work is under way to replace the stairs, which has caused further delays to the seawall project.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
“The difficult decision to demolish the defective stairs was made as this will provide the quickest resolution, while ensuring a consistent appearance,” the service said in a project update on Friday.
Shark Beach – better known as Nielsen Park, which surrounds it – has been closed since March 2022 to allow the replacement of the 100-year-old seawall, which was damaged during storms in 2016.
The beach was originally supposed to reopen in December 2022, but the construction project was frustrated by wet weather, the discovery of asbestos, and an engineering dispute.
Last month, NSW Parks and Wildlife Service said it expected the seawall to be completed by the end of November, and that it would reopen the site as soon as possible once construction finished. It did not provide a target opening date.
But in the project update last week, the service said workers discovered late last month that some stairs within the seawall structure had been poured with dimensions that did not comply with the Building Code of Australia.
The service said while “discrepancies are minor”, crews would have to demolish and reconstruct some of the stairs to make them compliant.
The update said demolition of non-compliant flights of stairs had been completed, and the first replacement stair had been re-poured on October 29.
It said the contractor for the project was completing rectification works at its own cost. The work would probably be finished this month.
The popular beach has been closed since March 2022.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
“The additional work required to rectify the defective stairs has unfortunately impacted on the overall completion timeframe of the project,” it said.
“This is now scheduled for mid-December, subject to weather and coastal conditions.”
The project update said NSW Public Works and the parks service were continually reviewing the program “to assess its progress and to find time savings”.
Wentworth MP Allegra Spender described the extended delay as “terrible news”. She said she knew members of the community had been “rightfully frustrated about the constant delays, and I am too”.
“I have repeatedly expressed our community’s frustration to the current and previous state governments for these continual delays,” she posted on social media on Saturday.
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