A tongue-in-cheek suggestion has been made to solve the national “cottage crisis”, which was even on Anthony Albanese’s mind, but some take the idea very seriously.
Popular Instagram influencer Miss Double Bay, who has almost 64,000 followers, has shared what she calls the “solution to the hut epidemic plaguing beaches” by getting councils to restrict tent shades to areas with meters.
Miss Double Bay proposed that councils establish ‘Cabana Corners’.
“While I’m all for sun protection, I think we can all agree that (the cabins) are unsightly,” he said.
‘Especially if you are a family of two, why do you need an eight-seater (popular brand) CoolCabana?’
“People come to the beach to enjoy the sights and sounds of Mother Nature…not a weirdly designed tent that looks like your grandma’s couch.”
The solution for “everyone to be able to move around” according to the video is to have a “designated area of the beach where the CoolCabanas can live.”
“This section would be at the back of the beach so no one could see it,” the influencer said.
Popular Instagram account missdoublebay has proposed an ironic solution to the ‘shack crisis’ on Australian beaches
The ‘Cabana Corners would have’ paParking in which if you want to stay longer you have to invest more money.
To enforce this, a new type of parking inspector would have to be employed.
“If we see a cabin that is not in Cabana Corner, immediate fine, immediate fine and asked to leave the beach,” he said.
Then, a little too enthusiastically, he described other violations at the cabins that could lead to an “immediate fine.”
“I feel like the council would really agree with this because, as we all know, the council likes to impose fines,” he said.
The video ends with Miss Double Bay asking for help to write to local councils to make her proposal.
The issue of Australian beaches being covered in cabana umbrellas has divided many Australians
The Missdoublebay Instagram account and other social media accounts were created by Sydney marketing and social media manager Claudia Bursill.
But many Australians were unimpressed by his bold solution.
“Negative…I will place it wherever my family deems appropriate for protection from the sun,” one person responded.
“Go back to Double Bay love for real,” was another disgruntled response.
A third added: “Okay, so your solution is colonization and surveillance of public spaces.”
“The council doesn’t need any more revenue raising,” said another.
A fourth said: “Sounds like an elite solution in the eastern suburbs that simply involves taxing western Sydney.”
However, others praised his idea.
One said: “I love the idea but I wish they had better prints, they are so ugly.” I think you almost have the right idea.
“The cabins stay at the back of the beach, there are no tents at the front of the beach, near the water.”
The issue of hut-covered beaches has even sparked comments from the Prime Minister.
Mr Albanese was asked on Nine’s Today program about people putting up huts early in the morning to claim a spot on the beach and reserve it for the day, even when they are somewhere else.
‘That’s not in… To think that you can reserve a small place just yours,” Mr. Albanese responded.
‘One of the best things about Australia, unlike other parts of the world where you go and have to pay to go to the beach. Here everyone owns the beach,” said Mr. Albanese.
‘It’s a place where all Australians are equal. And that’s really a violation of that principle, to think that you can reserve a small place as just yours.’
Sunrise hosts Jayne Azzopardi and Alex Cullen slammed the behavior as “un-Australian”, and blatantly called on the Prime Minister to legislate against the practice.
“Well, maybe,” he replied.