Coronavirus: Bondi, Coogee beaches near capacity as people told to turn back

Sydneysiders have flocking to beaches, raising social distancing fears and placing a Covid-safe summer at risk.

Huge crowds flocked to Coogee Beach on Monday as temperatures reached 30 degrees. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Officials are considering limiting access to Bondi, Coogee and other eastern suburbs beaches as they are “nearing capacity” on the sweltering Labour Day holiday.

“If people continue to come to Bondi Beach and crowds grow further, restricted access to the sand is likely to be implemented within the next hour 2-3pm”, Waverley Council wrote in an alert at 1.30pm.

NEWS: Bondi Beach is nearing capacity. If you haven’t left for the beach already, please rethink your trip and check capacity later. Read more here: https://t.co/PgaPZTtb6x pic.twitter.com/TI91fkbbPZ

— Waverley Council (@WaverleyCouncil) October 5, 2020

Just half an hour earlier Randwick Council warned that “many of our beaches” were approaching capacity.

“So please make alternate plans if you’re heading to our coastline,” the council tweeted at 1pm.

A packed Coogee Beach. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Large crowds have hit Sydney’s sands as a top of 31C was forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology.

Tops of 33C were also expected for parts of western Sydney including Richmond, Liverpool and Penrith.

🚫 Many of our beaches are approaching capacity, so please make alternate plans if you're heading to our coastline.
🌞 If you're already in the area, enjoy the warm weather at our beachside parks and reserves, or support local businesses by visiting stores in our town centres. pic.twitter.com/cEG8v52FmZ

— Randwick Council (@RandwickCouncil) October 5, 2020

There were also reports on Monday of people being ushered away from North Bondi due to potential overcrowding.

Live Traffic Sydney posted on Twitter this afternoon that Cronulla Beach and all other beaches in the Shire were nearly full at 12.30pm.

Across Sydney’s iconic beaches, ambassadors, COVID-marshalls and lifeguards have been patrolling the sand to ensure revellers maintain social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic. Councils around the city are guided by summer action plans, designed to ensure that outdoor spaces can be enjoyed while still complying with government health orders. Some councils, including Waverley, Randwick and Northern Beaches, will use hi-tech gadgets like drones and AI-boosted cameras to monitor crowd numbers.

Crowds flock to Bondi as temperatures nudge 30 degree on the October long weekend. Picture: Toby Zerna

As beaches get close to capacity, council action plans call for restricting access, with the help from police if necessary. However, Waverley Council have clarified people will not be booted off the beaches if they are already on the sand.

Monday’s sweltering weather was a result of northerly wind pushing heat over most of northeastern NSW, including Sydney, BOM meteorologist Alex Majchrowski said. The hotter-than-average temperatures were expected to give way to cooler conditions later in the week.

A southerly change is expected to pass through the coast late on Monday night and early Tuesday.

“Once that front moves through temperatures will drop by 10 degrees,” Mr Majchrowski said.

“Temperatures will cool off and get closer to the average.”

Tuesday will likely see cool and cloudy conditions with a top of 21C in Sydney.

However, a strong wind warning has been issued for most of the coast, including the Sydney, Illawarra, Batemans, Eden, Macquarie and Hunter regions. Broken Hill saw a dramatic plunge in temperature, from a peak of 35C on Sunday to a maximum of 15C on Monday.

Bourke was expected to be hottest in NSW, with a Monday maximum of 35C.

A severe weather warning is also in place for the Snowy Mountains region with wind gusts of 122km/h recorded on Monday morning.

With Steve Zemek and Heath Parkes-Hupton