Mosman Council to upgrade Balmoral Beach Promenade for $2.3m
MOSMAN Council is set to spend $2.3m on upgrading the promenade at Balmoral Beach, its most popular asset.
Mosman
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mosman. Followed categories will be added to My News.
MOSMAN Council will revamp the Balmoral Promenade when work starts on a $2.3 million refurbishment next month.
The project is part of the council’s ongoing renewal of Balmoral infrastructure in the past decade, which has included the rotunda, toilet blocks, baths and playground.
Councillors approved of the project going to tender last month.
Balmoral is the council’s largest and most popular asset.
Counters from its public toilet blocks recorded 67,468 entries in December last year.
The council expects to complete most of the work, $1.7 million worth, by the end of June to coincide with the quieter, colder months.
This first stage is an upgrade of the entire Balmoral Promenade ($1.25 million) and the replacement of log seating at the southern end of Balmoral ($450,000).
Funding for the second stage, worth $600,000, will be considered in the 2017/18 budget and will cover renewal of lighting, the stairs accessing the beach on the promenade and the ancillary footpath areas connecting the promenade.
Second-stage works might start in July and be completed by September.
The project complies with council decision-making guidelines during the amalgamations process.
Mosman deputy mayor Roy Bendall said the Balmoral upgrade was long overdue and would “pretty up the place”.
“This is one of our bigger capital works projects for a long time,” he said.
“Balmoral is our best-used asset and it has cultural and historical significance to our community.
“It was originally part of the work-for-food program during the Depression.
“We have a responsibility to keep that historical part of Mosman in shipshape.
“The promenade is definitely one of those assets that needs to be improved and maintained.
“It’s all looking a bit dated at the moment.
“We have concrete cancer under The Esplanade and it really needs a fix-up.
“With any infrastructure it’s expensive, but luckily council is in a strong enough financial position to be able to take on this project.”
Councillor Bendall said he was glad that some of the log barricades would be removed from around the trees in the reserve to allow for new seating at the southern end of Balmoral.
“We had lost the plot a little bit down there and fenced off so much of it that only the trees were getting the benefit,” he said.
“So removing some of those barricades and increasing the grassland means people can picnic under the trees.”
The promenade’s concrete footpath is more than 40 years old.
The council received several complaints about its condition in 2015/16.
Some areas had subsided and caused people to trip.
An investigation of several sites found significant cavities underneath the footpath.
In addition, in some areas the subsoil, most likely installed in the 1920s when the wall was constructed, had settled and completely eroded away.
In these sections the footpath was a serious safety risk to pedestrians and the council’s waste and cleaning contractor, who drives along the path regularly, because the footpath acted like a suspended slab or bridge.
The council’s spokeswoman said the extent of the voids was unknown, but would be established when the promenade’s concrete slab was demolished.
The council’s recent restoration work has resulted in mismatched designs and types of concrete along the promenade.
Major NRL nursery now producing our brightest rugby teenagers
A school renowned for producing an assembly line of talent to the NRL has now delivered a quartet of young guns to the NSW Waratahs U16s for a crucial task this year.
Hair today, stars tomorrow! City v Country passion, power, top shots
There were big hits and some hair-raising action – literally – at the 2025 City v Country junior rugby tournament. Check out some of the top shots.