Highlights
- The Italian community in Sydney is opposing a plan to set up a private commercial beach club at the Bondi Beach.
- The Amalfi Beach Club's owner has reassured Sydney residents that the venue would occupy only 0.5 per cent of the beach.
- The $80 booking fee is not an "entry fee" but a "booking deposit" which will be used to pay for food and drinks.
Sydney's Italian-Australian community has voiced strong opposition to a proposed private beach club at the Bondi Beach.
Earlier this year, the Amalfi Beach Club company lodged an event proposal with the council seeking permission to operate a European-style club on the world-famous beach in Sydney's east, from November to February.
However, the Council asked the Amalfi Beach Club to submit a Development Application for both the proposed activity and the related structure.
The Waverley Council has confirmed that it is assessing a modified proposal for a section of Bondi Beach to be utilised for commercial activity by a beach club between February and May 2021.
'A restaurant on the beach.'
According to the Amalfi Beach Club company's founder and CEO, Janek Gazecki, the widespread opposition is due to the "misinterpretation" of the plans and a more correct definition of the venue is a "restaurant on the beach", rather than "a private beach club".
Mr Gazecki stresses that the venue would occupy only 400 square metres on a beach measuring 55,000 square metres in total.
However, an online petition against the proposal has received more than 32,000 signatures, while a petition set up by the Amalfi Beach Club in favour of the proposal has garnered over 1,000 signatures.
SBS Italian has interviewed five members of the Italian-Australian community about this proposal, and a has received over 200 comments.
But even after these clarifications, many Italian-Australians in Sydney remain opposed to the project.
An image provided by Amalfi Beach Club founder Janek Gazecki showing the size of the proposed club. Source: Amalfi Beach Club
'I love that freedom on Australian beaches'
Daniele was born and grew up in Milan, and is a Bondi resident now. He says he doesn't want to see Bondi Beach become like the beaches in Italy.
"I used to go to Riviera Ligure all the time, where there are rows and rows of private clubs adjacent to each other — and just to go for a swim, you need to find a gap," he says.
"Here in Australia, we have that freedom of being able to access the beach, without the hassle and without having to walk through umbrellas and day beds."
Marco, another Bondi resident, says he would be very disappointed if the council approves the project.
"It would show that the council supports initiatives that encourage social differentiation," he says — where wealth determines who can access such a service and who cannot.
However, Amalfi Beach Club CEO Janek Gazecki says the $80 online payment necessary to book a cabana for a two-hour slot in the club is a "booking deposit" that will be put towards food and drinks and is not an "entry fee".
He says the club will not block access to the ocean in any way, as it would be adjacent to the promenade at the underutilised south end.
'It would pave the way for more similar projects.'
Sydney resident Fabio Menichetti says the project would pave the way for other similar projects all over Sydney.
"It wouldn't take long before there's many [similar clubs] on Sydney's beaches," he told SBS Italian.
"It feels un-Australian. It feels like something that goes against the Australian beach culture, where anyone can go to the beach without booking and without paying," says Mr Menichetti.
In Italy in some beach clubs can be very expensive and in some places, you need to book three or four months in advance, explains Mr Menichetti, who moved to Australia from Perugia in central Italy in 2006.
However, some in the Italian-Australian community are enthusiastic about the project.
Sara from Tasmania says Sydney needs venues like this.
"When I used to live in Sydney I would have loved a place with a sunbed and umbrella without having to bring everything myself, which was a real mission, which is why in the end I did not go to the beach very often at all,” says Sara who now lives in Tasmania.
'Helping the local economy during COVID-19.'
Mr Ganecki says his project will help the local economy grow after the COVID-19 slowdown.
"[It] will play an important role in attracting local tourism from the greater Sydney region, intrastate, and more importantly, hosting them in a COVID-19 safe environment," Mr Ganecki told SBS Italian.
If the plan is approved, the club will be able to host up to 100 guests at the time, subject to health regulations, over four two-hour sessions between 12 pm-9 pm. Guests will be allowed to book a maximum of two sessions per person, per day.
"The Amalfi Beach Club merely utilises existing mechanisms to temporarily lease a tiny proportion of public land from Council to provide a service and create employment," he says.
"We are just leasing a small portion of the beach, in the same way a plethora of other commercial initiatives do annually."
The Mayor of Waverley, Paula Masselos, said the council would ensure proper process is followed when assessing the modified proposal for the beach club.
"If the applicant submits a valid [development approval], there will be a period of community consultation as part of that process. That would give the community the chance to formally submit their views on the proposal," Mayor Masselos said.
