Key point ‘bunch of whingers’ missed in Bondi plan

Any dive down the rabbit hole that is Facebook posts and community reaction is enough for anyone to get the popcorn out, but this adventure makes me spit out the accompanying frozen Coke.

Scrolling through my feed and seeing the words, “Do we really want Bondi to look like this?”, you know just what you’re going to get in the comments. A bunch of whingers.

I say this as a former Bondi local – and even if I didn’t used to live there, I have a pretty strong opinion about such proposals to bring restaurants or bars with cabanas or day beds to beaches. I’m all for it and for the life of me, can’t understand why people are so vehemently against such a great idea.

Let’s face it, Bondi Beach isn’t as great as all these beach club haters make it out to be. Even in our own news.com.au poll it got voted the most overrated beach in the country.

You know it, we know it, so why does everyone get so up in arms about making a pretty average beach more appealing?

Sure, when the idea first got floated and there was a suggestion it would be an “exclusive” establishment designed for rich and attractive people, feathers were always going to be significantly ruffled.

But when the man behind the proposal, Janek Gazecki, made it clear the $80 fee would include food and drinks, it seemed a no-brainer to me.

Now that he’s indicated there will also be a casual walk-in area and a play section for kids, I’m even more for it.

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I’ve long thought such a concept would be great for the Gold Coast – where I grew up – and its much more expansive stretches of sand.

Even though there’s more room to play with, such proposals have annoyingly been met with the same resistance in the past.

I still distinctly remember covering local council when a pitch to sell ice creams, drinks and umbrellas to people on the beach floated in 2013 was met with the furious reaction that people didn’t want to be “harassed” on the sand, or have their city become reminiscent of Bali.

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The plan had at least one ally in Broadbeach councillor Paul Taylor who said it was about time the council caught up with the rest of the world and started “to come out of the Stone Age”.

While the GC has come a fair way since then, it still doesn’t have a dedicated beach club on the sand.

Last month Mayor Tom Tate, in a bid to reinvigorate the hard-hit tourism sector amid the coronavirus pandemic, said he hoped to establish “beach bars” at select locations along the region’s 55km of sandy coastline.

But on social media, people sharing that story provided comments like, “Hopefully the Mayor of Waverley doesn’t have the same ‘pro beach club’ attitude”.

Quite frankly, we should be applauding Mr Tate for taking such an approach (finally) and encouraging the Mayor of Waverley to do the same.

Ridiculous comments from MPs such as the Federal member for Kingsford Smith, Matt Thistlethwaite, who tweeted “This should never be allowed on Australian beaches” shoot such plans down before they even get a chance.

One of the groups against the plan has now even gone so far as to start its own website, because Facebook apparently isn’t enough.

Surely there are better uses for community efforts and resources?

Let’s give this proposal a chance and allow due process to be followed before shooting it down.

We could all do with a bit of hope (and less hate) for 2021.