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Bronte Surf Life Saving Club and Community Facilities Upgrade Planned

After being deemed “no longer fit for its purpose,” the Bronte Surf Life Saving Club community facilities may soon be up for redevelopment.

The proposed upgrade marks a new milestone as the plan enters the Development Application stage, following Council’s decision to endorse the final concept design (Option 4) for assessment by the Sydney Eastern Planning Panel.

The Club is now seeking to redevelop the site to include a balance of female and male facilities, family change rooms and accessible amenities, adequate facilities for more than 200 lifesaver trainees per year, fit-for-purpose lifeguard and lifesaving facilities, among other improvements.

Proposed Building-Site Plan of Bronte Surf Life Saving Club and Community Facilities upgrade| Photo credit: Waverley Council / epwgate.waverley.nsw.gov.au

The Club has also decided not to proceed with the original concept designs, opting to use one of the alternate designs instead, based on numerous community feedback that pointed out several flaws in the original design. These include the amenity block being too far from the water and the excessive size and height of the originally planned building.

Alternative design concepts were proposed which incorporated several changes including a raised floor for storm and flood mitigation, the addition of a northern courtyard, enhancing the accessibility of its entrances, accessible cube designs, and improved lifeguard and council facilities layout.

Proposed Building-Axonometric View | Photo credit: Waverley Council / epwgate.waverley.nsw.gov.au

Council also increased its funding contribution to the Club by $2.9 million, upping its total contribution to $7.5 million, successfully negotiating an updated Heads of Agreement to effect this change.

View from Beach Area | Photo credit: Waverley Council / epwgate.waverley.nsw.gov.au

“We acknowledge the hard work the club has put into developing their own concept designs which it presented to stakeholders and the community in April this year for feedback,” Waverley Mayor, Paula Masselos, said.

“The concept design endorsed by Council responds to the feedback we received about the designs initially presented to the community, and we invite the community to provide formal feedback about the DA.”

Visit this page to view the application.

LGBTQIA Memorial Unveiled in Tamarama’s Gorgeous Coastline

Overlooking the beautiful Tamarama coastal path which links to Bondi and Coogee is “Rise,” a newly-installed LGBTQIA memorial for victims and survivors of hate crimes of the 1970s to the 1990s.

Designed by John Nicholson of Urban Art Projects (UAP), this memorial was six years on the planning board with Waverley Council, UAP, and ACON, the organisation working to uplift LGBTQIA communities in Australia. The site was specifically chosen because the cliffs and the surrounding areas are “the sites of horrific acts of violence towards LGBTQ people,” according to the Bondi Memorial.

Officially launched on 4 June 2022, as the world celebrates Pride Month, the LGBTQIA memorial comes with six sculptured stone layers to represent each of the coloured bands on the Pride flag.

The layers look like staircases to represent the spirit of those who have risen despite the history of violence against the community. Embedded in the memorial are the names of the lives lost.

“John Nicholson and UAP’s design responds beautifully to the project’s guiding principles of remembrance, diversity, inclusion, justice and acceptance,” Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos said in a statement.

“Having a permanent catalyst for the ongoing building of an inclusive, accepting and resilient society will ensure that this dark history will never be repeated.”

Rise’s Biggest Donor

The project was also possible through the donation of Stephen Heasley, an Australian-American, and his partner Andrew Borg. The couple donated part of the lawsuit payout they received against Vistaprint, the company they hired to print their wedding invitations and programs.

Instead of printing what the couple wanted, Vistaprint sent them pamphlets with hateful quotes commonly used in conversion therapy treatments. The couple regarded this act as a “gay hate mail” and sued in 2018.

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The court sided with the couple and asked Vistaprint to donate US$100,000 to LGBTQIA charities in U.S. and Australia. Stephen and Andrew gave $64,000 for Rise.

Stephen loved the idea of the memorial because, as a younger man, he used to visit Marks Park on the Tamarama coastline to jog, soul search and reflect, and listen to the sound of the ocean while figuring out what he can do with his life.

A Time for Healing

To complete the project, Waverley Council also contributed $100,000 whilst ACON acquired the rest through fundraising drives.

“For decades, our communities have endured the pain and trauma of these horrific acts of violence. We know that many gay men and trans women were killed, tortured or assaulted across Sydney, including along the city’s coastline and eastern suburbs. These events have left a sorrowful legacy that continues to be felt today,” ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill said.

“This memorial will serve as a monument to the victims and survivors and help heal the trauma these events have caused for their families and loved ones, as well as broader LGBTQIA+ communities and many local residents.”

2.45-Metre Tiger Shark Caught and Released Off Bronte Beach

A tiger shark was recently caught along Bronte Beach and was released into the ocean after tagging, as part of the NSW shark management program.

Read: Bronte, Tamarama Beach Found to Have Very Low Levels of Microplastics

Drone photographer Jason Iggleden, who’s also the founder of shark-spotting app Drone Shark, posted on Instagram that he was shocked by his first sighting of the tiger shark.

Iggleden, who is known for regularly posting footage captured on his drone, revealed he was not sure if the particular shark he captured was still alive once released because he noticed it was motionless whilst sinking below the surface.

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The contractors from NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) confirmed the shark, which reportedly measured 2.45-meter, was released in “good health.” It was then tagged with GPS as part of the state’s SMART drumlines program.

‘SMART’ stands for Shark-Management-Alert-In-RealTime. The drumlines consist of an anchor, two buoys and a satellite-linked GPS communications unit attached to a hook baited with one sea mullet.

How a SMART drumline works (Photo credit: sharksmart.nsw.gov.au)

Although the shark was untagged when it entered the water off Bronte beach, DPI contractors were alerted after it was drawn to bait attached to one of the buoys.

When a shark takes the bait, it puts pressure on the line, releasing the magnet attached to the communications unit. It will then alert the boat crew and DPI scientists that there is an animal on the line. Once alerted, the team responds immediately, ideally within 30 minutes to tag and release the shark or other marine animal.

About Tiger Sharks

Photo credit: CC BY-SA 3.0/Albert kok/Wikimedia Commons

Tiger sharks are often found in tropical and warmer temperature waters of all the world’s oceans. In Australia, their distribution includes all northern Australia, extending south to Perth in the west and Bass Strait in the East. At maturity, males measure at about 3 metres whilst females grow between 2 to 3.3m.

These large sharks prey on large marine mammals such as seals, sea-lions, dolphins as well as large fishes, turtles and even seabirds. Tiger sharks are among the several species of shark known to be dangerous to humans, aside from white sharks and bull sharks.

Published 1-June-2022

Tamarama Beach Could Take A Year To Recover From Coastal Damage

Did you know that Tamarama Beach and other Sydney beaches could take over a year to recover after suffering from significant damage brought by the recent big swells and high tides?

Read: A Glimpse of the Rich History of Tamarama Beach

Earlier in April 2022, Waverley Council assessed the impact of the big swells and high tides and discovered that Tamarama suffered damage to garden beds and bin corrals as a large amount of sand was washed up from the beach to the park area.

Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos compared Tamarama to a place hit by a bomb because of the great amount of sand running up into the park and the gardens that have been damaged.

Cr Masselos said “the impacts of climate change are evident as these events become more frequent.”

sydney beaches — Tamarama Beach in 2019 (CC BY-SA 4.0/MDRX/Wikimedia Commons)

“Our staff are securing the areas to make them safe for the community, but it is likely to be many weeks before we can fully restore the damaged areas,” she said.

Council’s staff also discovered there was damage to the promenade and fence above the Wally Weekes pool at North Bondi and the brick fencing on the promenade at Bronte beach was damaged after the water inundated the park.

Works will include rebuilding brick walls, grooming and grading beaches, steel fabrication and netting for Bronte Pool and steel fabrication and concrete repairs at North Bondi Pool and promenade.

A coastal geomorphologist from the University of Sydney believes these beaches would take several months or up to a year to return to a normal state after the surging sea water swept away the sand. With sea levels rising permanently, the public can anticipate more damaging conditions in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the NSW Government issues forecasts regarding beach conditions through the Beachwatch program.

If you’re planning to swim at any NSW beach, you can view Beachwatch to get the latest information on beach conditions, including the weather, winds, chances of rainfall, and ocean temperature.

Penthouse Construction to Resume at Skye Tamarama, formerly Glenview Court, After Stop-Work Order

Construction work on Skye Tamarama, a high-end luxury building on Illawong Road, is set to resume once issues raised in a stop work order have been resolved.

Point Built shared in a social media post that it will start working with Pure Interiors and the SPMA for the two fitouts of the building’s penthouses.

In December 2021, Fair Trading ordered to stop the construction based site inspections in September and October from the NSW Building Commissioner. Apparently, fire sprinklers were only installed at two levels of carparks in the basement and were not up to the standards whilst the remaining levels of the nine-storey apartment did not have any fire sprinklers at all.

Aside from the stop-work order, the agency also prevented the release of occupation certificates to unit owners until the fire sprinkler issues are fixed.

Compliance director Matthew Whitton said that it might take some time for the building to become habitable again but it is not yet ready at the moment. Understandably, there are frustrations from the owners of Skye Tamarama, who were expecting to move to their new units in early 2022.

Photo Credit: Artist’s Impression/Illawong Ave

Skye Tamarama consists of 80 apartments costing millions per unit and two 240-square metres penthouses with an average of a $20 million price guide. It was formerly known as the Glenview Court, which was constructed in the 1960s, and was called by many names like The Beast, Tamarama Toaster, Soviet Hospital and Housing Commission, as one of the “ugliest landmarks” in Eastern Sydney.

Plans to fully renovate Glenview Court as Skye Tamarama started over 10 years ago with a $21 million budget that has ballooned to $40 million once construction stated. In 2019, its last tenants vacated to make way for the major redevelopment.

Christine Smetsers, who is behind the transformation of Glenview Cour,t said that she has been getting calls about the stunning design of Skye Tamarama from designed by award-winning architect Nick Tobias. Smetsersa said that the apartment’s location is “the most elevated position in Tamarama” that gives the residence a unique and incomparable full frontage view of the beaches and the ocean.

Bronte, Tamarama Beach Found to Have Very Low Levels of Microplastics

Did you know that Bronte and Tamarama Beach have some of the lowest levels of microplastics in the sand compared to other beaches in Sydney?

According to a study, Bronte and Tamarama Beach have very low levels of microplastics compared to the other samples gathered across 300 beaches in Australia by the Australian Microplastic Assessment Project.

A total of three million microplastic fragments were collected from the samplings in the beaches, which were then logged into the interactive hot map. It showed that Bronte Beach had just seven microplastic fragments per square metre while Tamarama Beach had three microplastic fragments per square metre. Both are in the green zone for having a very low level of microplastic fragments.

The worst beach has over 4,000 tiny particles of plastic per square metre.

Manly Cove in the Northern Beaches has been marked in the black zone as the researchers sampled 4,051 microplastic fragments per square metre.

AUSMAP Research Director Dr Scott Wilson of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Macquarie University said this project provided the “most substantial data we have on the scope and impact of microplastics in Australia’s waterways.”

“Australia’s massive coastline makes us particularly vulnerable to microplastics,” Mr Wilson said.

“While we know that we have a big problem with plastic pollution entering ocean currents everywhere, one of the major findings we have uncovered through this project is that most of the microplastics on a shoreline will be from that local catchment.”

AUSMAP said that microplastics levels were higher around urban waterways, in cities and towns with a large population.

Microplastic, which never completely breaks down, can come from activewear clothing, synthetic grasses, rubbish, and many other sources that become contaminants when it’s absorbed in the water, harming marine life that eats the bits of these plastics.

“They’re not just eating the plastic – they’re potentially getting a whole cocktail of chemicals as well.

Volunteers for AUSMAP
Photo Credit: Macquarie University

“We don’t know yet, what the long-term effects will be from ingesting microplastics and how much of these harmful chemicals will find their way into humans.

“What we do know, is that we can’t wait around to find out how bad it is. AUSMAP will help us to track where microplastics are coming from so we can stop it at the source.”

AUSMAP partnered with local governments and state environmental agencies for this project. The next step is educating the public about the best practices to reduce microplastics contamination on the beaches.

The AUSMAP data was cited for the Eureka Prize in 2021 for Innovation in Citizen Science. About 800 volunteers participated in the project that started in 2018.

Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club Clubhouse To Receive New Restorations

The Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club clubhouse is due to receive a series of much-needed upgrades and restorations, including new areas for First Aid courses and improvements to vantage points and facilities.

With the help of the Waverley Council, the Lloyd Group and Chrofi Architects, the Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club clubhouse will receive a series of upgrades and restorations, improving amenities and their ability to cater to the needs of modern lifesaving. Now, the Council is calling for the aid of the Sydney community to send funds and help make this project a reality.

The restoration project entails the improvement of facilities for female members, as well as upgrades for vantage points for beach surveillance during patrols. Additional storage space for rescue equipment will also be implemented as part of the project.

Areas for education and training activities such as First Aid courses will be constructed, and more of the clubhouse will be available for public use — specifically community groups in need of facilities.

The project will also address two of the clubhouses most common problems: acoustic bleed to neighbouring properties, and environmental sustainability.

Though the Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club was first established in 1906, it is not a heritage-listed site. The club boasts having over 350 members, and it takes great pride in maintaining a record of ‘no lives lost’ ever since it was founded. It was also one of the clubs that helped develop vital rescue equipment used by lifesavers including the rescue board and the line and reel.

It is estimated that the restoration will take up to 12 months to complete, however inclement weather might impede progress and cause delays.

Though an official starting date has not been announced for construction, those interested in keeping up with the project can follow the Waverley Council’s newsletter Waverley Weekly. Those interested in funding the project by donating can do so via this website.

The Tamarama Surf Life Saving Club clubhouse can be found at 1A Pacific Ave, Tamarama. For more information, visit their website here. For the latest updates and announcements concerning the club and progress on its clubhouse, follow their social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.

Enjoy Authentic Pizza at the Newly-Renovated Vacanza Pizzeria in Bronte

In the mood for some authentic, masterfully-made pizzas? Vacanza Pizzeria Bronte has you covered. Recent renovated, it is now an even more perfect place to enjoy hearty pizza dishes and antipasti.

From the mind of Nick Gilbert comes the famous Italian pizza place ‘Vacanza Pizzeria’ which has been in the business for 11 years now, with branches in both Bronte and Surry Hills. The restaurant’s name draws roots from the Italian word ‘vacanza’, which roughly translates to ‘holiday’.

Just recently, the pizzeria has finished undergoing renovations for the first time in ten years. Some additions include the implementation of their all-new takeaway window on the ground floor, as well as the installation of a giant window to allow customers to view the kitchen and watch the magic happen live. The upstairs area, on the other hand, has received new pendant lights and decorative wall paneling along with some fancy marble top tables.

The restaurant offers both takeaway and dine in, and their menu features many classic pizzas such as pizza margherita, pizza gamberi, or pizza diavola with unique twists. Also available at the restaurant are calzones, salads, and both a curated selection of antipasti and a bufala mozzarella bar.

Photo credit: Instagram/Vacanza Pizzeria Sydney

Reviewers raved over the restaurant’s pizza, with numerous accounts lauding it as the “best pizza around”. The atmosphere and the service have also been commended by the restaurant’s customers. One reviewer in particular complimented the staff on their ability to work well under pressure despite the venue being extremely busy. Another had written that the food, the prices, and the staff were all incredible.

Mr Gilbert’s pizzerias first came about after he quit his corporate job to travel all across Europe and learn how to make pizza. His ventures across the continent have led to him mastering the particular style of pizza which he now serves at his restaurants in Sydney. He claims that Vacanza came about not for financial reasons, but because he wished to serve the community.

Vacanza Pizzeria can be found at 261 Bronte Rd, Waverley, open Wednesdays to Sundays from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. For more information, visit their website here. Follow their social media pages on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates on meals, deals, and other special announcements.

Bronte Surf Life Saving Club Set for $9 Million Redevelopment in Mid-2020

Construction of a new state-of-the-art facility for the Bronte Surf Life Saving Club is expected to be underway by mid-2020. Waverley Council has confirmed that it has received $9 million in funding to redevelop the site, which Bronte locals have enjoyed since 1903.

The existing clubhouse will be demolished and replaced with a sustainable building that can fill the demands of a growing community. Currently, Bronte Surf Life Saving Club has over 1,900 members, staff and lifeguards.

Among the proposed new features that will be incorporated in the new clubhouse include lifeguard and first aid facilities, family and accessible public amenities, function rooms, kiosk, gymnasium, and administrative offices. In addition to a new building, the promenade and surrounding areas by the beach will be upgraded to be more accessible and useful to locals enjoying the Bronte Beach.

Council has pledged $4.625 million for the redevelopment whilst Bronte Surf Life Saving Club members have pooled over $2.03 million in donations. The rest of the funds will come from the state and federal governments.

*Photo Credit: Bronte Surf Life Saving Club/Facebook*

“A Council/Club joint project control team will oversee the project to ensure all necessary financial and probity measures are in place. The project will result in significant improvements to amenities, provide better lifeguard facilities, improve workplace health and safety (WHS) requirements and will ensure the service the Club provides to the community will continue into the future,” Mayor John Wakefield said in a press statement.

Consultations have begun for the Bronte Surf Life Saving Club redevelopment. Club members and residents are enjoined to let their ideas and opinions be heard as feedback will shape the design and features of the new clubhouse.

A development application will be submitted once the community’s inputs have been integrated into the project.

Brazilian- Inspired Food with Beautiful Views Only at Bronte Belo

Only a few metres away from Sydney’s beautiful Bronte Beach is Bronte Belo, a Brazilian restaurant that offers more than delicious Brazilian-inspired food and beverages.

Bronte Belo is open daily from 7:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. This makes it a perfect restaurant and cafe for you to have a leisurely breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even an afternoon snack with your family and friends. Only a stone’s throw away from the beach, Bronte Belo also offers a scenic view for all guests to enjoy whilst indulging in a flavourful dish of their choice.

Upon entering the restaurant, you will already notice the vibrant colours of the painted walls, giving an impression of being at a plaza in Brazil.

Also placed at one of Bronte Belo’s walls is a list of their specials for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Now there is no need for you to worry about what food to order especially if you are not quite familiar with Brazilian dishes.

Bronte Belo’s Menu

Apart from the specials posted on the wall, Bronte Belo offers an extensive list of food and beverages that you can choose from. In fact, with so many options given, Bronte Belo prides itself for being a restaurant/cafe that can suit any occasion.

Here are some of the dishes they serve that you may want to try out:

Veggie Breakfast Board

Bronte Belo’s Veggie Breakfast Board include Poached eggs on toast, sliced Avocado, grilled Halloumi, grilled mushrooms and tomato, feta and pesto. This meal goes well with a nice cup of hot coffee on the side.

Click here to view Bronte Belo’s full cafe menu.

Mediterranean Chicken Salad

The Mediterranean Chicken Salad that Bronte Belo offers is composed of baby Spinach, Danish Feta, pumpkin, olives, and deliciously marinated and grilled chicken breast.

Feijoada

Feijoada is a Brazilian staple at Bronte Belo. It consists of black bean stew with smoked chorizo, beef and pork, with sides of rice, cassava flour, salsa and sautéed kale.

Click here to view more of Bronte Belo’s Brazilian dishes.