Penrith Beach has been granted a reprieve ahead of its planned closure this month, but the long-term future of the popular western Sydney attraction remains unclear.
The artificial beach, named ‘Pondi’, opened on December 19 as a ‘temporary activation’ with initial plans to keep the site accessible to the public until March 3.
The New South Wales government has announced the beach will remain open on weekends and holidays until Anzac Day, but has not revealed whether it will be available to the public next year.
NSW Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully described the beach’s expanded operation as a “trial” period – spanning just 17 days – to gauge its popularity.
Around 150,000 beachgoers flocked to the arena during the first month of opening and tens of thousands more have visited since then.
Penrith Beach has been granted a reprieve ahead of its planned closure this month, but the future of the popular western Sydney attraction remains unclear. Tahnee and Steve are pictured with their children at the beach.
The site experienced some problems from the start, with visitors complaining of poor facilities, long queues and parking problems.
The 130m long beach was also affected by several closures following the tragic death of a father from drowning and other issues related to poor water quality.
Having spent $1.7 million of taxpayer money on an attraction open for less than three months, plans for its future are still subject to evaluation.
The beach, which was previously open seven days a week, will now be accessible on weekends and holidays between 10am and 6pm until the end of daylight saving time on April 7.
From then on, opening hours will be reduced from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Penrith Beach quickly earned the nickname Pondi as a fun take on a marketing campaign promoting it as the “Bondi of the West”.
Deputy Premier Prue Car called it a turning point for people living in western Sydney and said she would be surprised if it was anything more than a “huge success”.
The artificial beach, named ‘Pondi’, opened on December 19 as a ‘temporary activation’ with initial plans to keep the site accessible to the public until March 3.
The site quickly became a favorite for families who no longer needed to travel to a beach in Sydney’s northern, eastern or southern suburbs to cool off on hot summer days.
Prue Car, deputy premier and minister for western Sydney, has not said whether Penrith Beach will reopen next year, but insisted it was a “resounding success”.
“In just a few months we have seen almost 200,000 western Sydney residents vote with their feet and visit Penrith Beach for a day by the water,” Ms Car said last weekend.
‘After seeing the site remain behind a closed gate for decades, locals have embraced Western Sydney’s first beach and love having a place to cool off right on their doorstep.
“I am delighted to see the season at Penrith Beach extended for western Sydney to enjoy.”
Giz Gebreyohannes, whose family was among the first to experience Penrith Beach, said it had exceeded her expectations.
The New South Wales government has announced the beach will remain open on weekends and holidays until Anzac Day, but has not revealed whether it will be available to the public next year.
“We don’t have to drive about an hour on a hot day to cool off and I don’t have to worry about big waves,” he said.
“It’s very nice and quiet here and it’s not that far away, so we can come on a hot day and enjoy it as a family.”
However, some critics said they were disappointed by the new swimming spot, while others admitted they had mixed feelings about it.
Social media users dubbed the beach ‘Penrith Pond’ and laughed at the duck poop on the muddy river bank.
Others expressed frustration that the beach was only open from 10am to 7pm and closed on Christmas Day.
“That lake will be very polluted very soon,” one person wrote on Facebook.
“Penrith Dam is a no from me,” wrote another.
The day after the beach opened, Penrith councilor Glenn Gardiner shared photos of the ‘car park’ (above) which appeared to have turned into a sinkhole after 30mm of rain.
The day after the beach opened, Penrith councilor Glenn Gardiner shared photos of the “car park” which appeared to be being washed away after 30mm of rain.
“This is beyond words,” he wrote.
‘Does the state government know that it also rains in the west?’
A week after the beach opened, Seti Tuaopepe, a 35-year-old father of five, drowned while swimming with three of his children.
And after days of heavy rain, high levels of enterococcus bacteria were detected in the water, forcing a second closure on January 24.
Penrith Beach was formerly a quarry supporting numerous Sydney housing and infrastructure projects until 2015, when the site was rehabilitated and returned to the government.
It had been understood that the site would be returned to the community once regeneration works were completed.
After many failed attempts to coordinate development on the site, Premier Chris Minns committed $1.7 million to build the temporary beach.