Western Sydney gets Bondi-style beach for steamy festive season

Families in Western Sydney will get their own 1km Bondi-style Beach under a $1.7 million Minns government plan to offer a refuge ahead of a long hot summer.

Families in Western Sydney are to be given their own 1km Bondi-style beach under a $1.7 million Minns government plan to offer a refuge ahead of a long hot summer.

The government has been secretly working on creating the infrastructure to support the swimming beach on the shores of a previously off-limits lake in Penrith.

To open late in December for almost three months, Penrith Beach will not only equal Bondi in length, but also feature dedicated lifeguards.

Families will be able to drive to the site, or take a “Penrith Beach” bus, with entry to be operated via a voucher system.

One day in 2020, Penrith earned the title as the hottest place on earth, with residents sweltering under a baking 48.9C. During heatwaves, the local government area can be up to 10C hotter than the city’s east.

According to the latest NSW Bureau of Meteorology long-range forecast, the chance of above-median maximum temperatures occurring throughout December to February is 80 per cent.

Western Sydney Minister Prue Car said Penrith Beach would offer an unmatched, patrolled waterside experience in the heart of the Western suburbs.

Neave Batt, 3, Prue Car and Violet Tickner, 5 at the new swimming spot in Penrith which will open in time for summer holidays. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Sydney's newest beach will open in December for four months ahead of a record-breaking hot summer.

Penrith Lakes will be turned into a world class waterway with its own version of Bondi Icebergs.

Families in Western Sydney will get their own Bondi-style beach. Picture: Damian Shaw

“Penrith Beach is a game-changer that gives the people of Western Sydney all the benefits of living in the west, with the addition of easy access to their very own beach,” she said. “This is about fairness. For too long Western Sydney locals were neglected as the Liberals and Nationals focused all their energy on investment in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

“The Minns Labor government made a decision to create this magnificent recreation facility to give Western Sydney residents their fair share with the same access to swimming as Sydney’s east.”

Aerial plans for the new 1km swimming spot.

Work on the Castlereagh Rd beach, which will be open for swimming from 7am to 7pm except on Christmas Day, has commenced, with a road and other facilities under construction. The site — used as a quarry until 2015 — has long been earmarked for recreational use.

In 2018, the Penrith Lakes Development Corporation proposed to rehabilitate and develop almost 2000ha to create a “waterworld” of lakes, beaches, and parkland, with the cost of the project to be recouped by setting aside land for up to 5000 homes.

However, flood concerns meant the proposal was shelved.

Penrith Beach will have its own lifeguards, and transport to and from the 1km swimming spot.

The renamed Western Sydney Lakes group submitted a new proposal for five-star waterfront precinct with a two-storey pavilion, a pier, possible film and TV studios, a wave park and beach.

The government finalised an amendment to the State Environment Planning Policy in June to enable small-scale employment, food and beverage, tourism and recreation opportunities, including a driving range, golf course and associated clubhouse, and to strengthen the flood planning and evacuation controls for future development on the site.

The department is continuing to investigate the future recreational uses of the site, with formal consultation on the masterplan is yet to commence.

In the meantime, the government has struck an agreement with Western Sydney Lakes for the beach to open.

Planning Minister Paul Scully said offering Western Sydney residents a place to swim was just as much a public health initiative as it was recreation.

“As temperatures rise, access to water near where you live has never been more important.

“Regardless of age, ability, or postcode, everyone should have access to a safe place to cool off,” he said.

“Penrith broke records for being the hottest place on earth and another sweltering summer is ahead of us, so a place to swim is important.”

SUMMER’S GOING TO BE A SCORCHER

Sydney — and much of Australia — is in for a hotter than hot summer, with the chance of maximum temperatures from December to February “very likely” to be above average, according to The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).

An active El Nino, a positive Indian Ocean Dipole event where warmer waters are being pushed to the ocean’s west together with “record warm oceans globally” were influencing the long range forecast.

The Indian Ocean Dipole is a climate pattern affecting the Indian Ocean. During a positive phase, warm waters are pushed to the Western Indian Ocean, while cold deep waters are brought up to the surface in the Eastern Indian Ocean.

Violet Tickner, 5, makes a splash at a new swimming beach in Penrith. Picture: Rohan Kelly

A positive phase increased the chance of below spring average rainfall for central and southeast Australia. While these events usually dissipate in December, models indicate this will occur later.

Over summer, December to February maximum and minimum temperatures were “at least” 2.5 times more likely than normal to be unusually high for much of Australia.

“El Nino increases the likelihood of drier than average conditions for the northeast of Australia and warmer than average days across much of the eastern half of the country,” a BoM spokesperson said.

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