Bronte Surf Life Saving Club and community facilities redevelopment update

UPDATE, Fri 6 May 2022

Bronte Surf Life Saving Club held face to face consultation on the proposed concept design on Saturday 30 April. Feedback from this consultation will be presented to Council in the coming months, followed by further updates on the project’s next steps.

29 April 2022

Bronte Surf Life Saving Club is inviting community feedback about its new proposed design concept for the surf club building and community facilities upgrade.

Waverley Council and the Surf Club have been part of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) to design and rebuild Bronte Surf Club and make way for a new, sustainable hub meeting the needs of Council, contemporary surf lifesaving and the wider community.

After the community largely rejected the first round of designs, Bronte Surf Club has, independent of the PPP, commissioned its own design concepts, which they are now sharing with stakeholders and the community to gather feedback.

Exhibition of the design is being run by the club independently of Council. The club is holding a community consultation day from 10am-3pm on Saturday 30 April. For more information, please visit brontesurfclub.com.au.

The club will then present the community feedback and design to Council for consideration to enter into an updated PPP which would see the design progress to detailed design phase.

In 2020, the Council held an open community consultation on the original proposed design concept for the project. 10 key issues were raised during consultation including loss of green space and public open space; that the proposed new surf club building was too big, and, excessive height and loss of views.

To address these issues, Council recommended that a design review process be undertaken of the proposed concept design that considers several principles including reduction of the overall footprint of the building, relocation of Dave Brown Place within the existing curtilage, and to minimise net loss of public open space and green space.

Waverley Council is co-funding the project and the project has received funding from the Australian Government and the NSW Government.

The current building is no longer fit for purpose and must be rebuilt to include:

  • A balance of female to male facilities
  • Family change rooms and accessible amenities
  • Adequate facilities to train over 200 lifesavers per year and teach young nippers (currently almost 800)
  • Fit-for-purpose lifeguard and lifesaving facilities including adequate storage and training spaces
  • lifeguard facilities with change rooms, first aid, and lifeguard tower (to align with Surf Lifesaving Australia requirements and recommendations).
  • The promenade will also be upgraded
  • council staff amenities and storage
  • patrol first aid area
  • administrative offices
  • kiosk, gymnasium and function room
  • training and meeting rooms and;

For background about the project, visit https://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/brontesurfclub

To participate in Bronte Surf Club’s consultation, visit https://brontesurfclub.com.au/.