December 1 - 31, 2024: Issue 637

 

Bayview Public Wharf Gone; Public Baths not safe - Salt Pan Public Wharf Going

A section of Bayview Public Wharf has deteriorated to the point where it is now gone. The iconic Bayview Baths, formerly the only netted against sharks safe swimming swimming area on the Mona Vale to Church Pont side of Pittwater, are also in a very poor state of repair with no plans in the immediate future to make them up to scratch as we head into what is likely to be a summer of record-breaking heatwaves.

In November 2016 the Bayview and Church Point Residents Association held a Centenary Celebration of the Bayview Baths on site. The event brought together past and present residents along with those who had holidayed at the spot and used the baths from the 1940's on. The occasion saw former Pittwater MP, the Hon. Rob Stokes, unveil signage to mark the 100 years of this site as a much-loved community hub - a commons area of blue water and green grassed reserve for all ages.

On Thursday, 24 May 2018 the Northern Beaches Council announced it 'will push ahead with further water testing at Bayview Baths on Pittwater as a prelude to possible refurbishment.'

The statement went on to say:

'On Tuesday night, Council adopted a recommendation to participate in another round of water testing with Sydney Water and the Office of Environment and Heritage at the site in 2018/19. Should this testing prove successful, Council has resolved to work collaboratively with the community and funding agencies to secure grant funding for future refurbishment.' 

However, Bayview baths have always had problematic water quality readings since urbanisation, and continued over-the-top mass development in the vicinity leads to even more runoff into the bay - developments approved by the council.  

Bayview Baths again rated Poor in the most recent State of the Beaches report (2023-2024). This indicates its microbial water quality is susceptible to faecal pollution, particularly after rainfall and occasionally during dry weather conditions, with ''several potential sources of faecal contamination including stormwater and sewage overflows''.

A clean water reading should not be a precondition of whether or not a council should maintain the infrastructure of public baths or the public wharf alongside them though. 

Doing something to ensure the source of the 'faecal contamination' is identified at its source and stopping it from happening would be the step usually expected or required of any private citizen or government body. 

Coincidentally, on the same day, a Mona Vale Park street resident has identified one source of a polluting 'sewerage overflow' finding its way into the southern end of Pittwater, and around the corner into the baths area with each outgoing and incoming tide.

Their photos, and background, runs this week in: 

Bayview Pollution runoff persists: Resident states raw sewerage is being washed into the estuary

As water quality is an ongoing concern, the Sydney Water promised review and commitment to work with the Northern Beaches Council on any required remediation needs to be called out.

This could form the basis of feedback to the current IPART water prices review - if Pittwater residents are to pay millions more to fund new infrastructure and maintain Sydney Water assets - some of these long-promised upgrades for Bayview baths and Scotland Island should be counted among the figuring.

The 2024 (for 2025-2030) pricing proposal states in its opening pages Sydney Water's objectives are to:

  • protect public health
  • protect the environment
  • be a successful business.

Safe drinking water for Scotland Island residents, a safe sewerage system to prevent disease, and cleaner estuary waters for visitors and residents alike as a result, AND saving an estuarine based community are the markers of a successful business and epitomise Sydney Water's objectives.

Submissions close December 9.  The 2024 Pricing proposal - Sydney Water  Provide 'feedback' HERE

Still, it is six years on from that 2018 statement and residents have heard nothing since. Readers will also see in the photos taken on Wednesday November 27 that the Bayview baths, still without any TLC since, have deteriorated even further since those taken in 2016.

Topping that, the Bayview wharf, needing repairs and maintenance in 2016, has now gone completely in the case of the corner section that projects east from its end. 

The state of the baths features in emails sent to the news service regularly - one example from the Community News page in February 2021:

Bayview Baths Neglect On The Nose

Residents have expressed a growing impatience with the lack of care and restoration works to ensure the Bayview baths remain in good condition. Mona Vale, Bayview and Church Point locals state this is the only baths on their side of Pittwater and a rejuvenation so these are safe for their children is long overdue.

Those who frequent the area state the netting and wood pylons have rotted, the bottom is covered in glass, rocks and oysters, and pollution from adjacent areas is making this family-friendly location too unfriendly. 


2024 Collapse of wharf

In mid-2024 part of the earthen groyne and part of the wooden wharf collapsed. Due of the obvious resulting danger, Northern Beaches Council has restricted entry to both of these areas. However, it has led to Council commencing planning for the whole Baths/Groyne/ Wharf area.  

As it is six months later, and the first day of Summer 2024/25 when this Issue is published, the news service contacted the council this week to enquire what the schedule/program for replacement of the vital Bayview Public Wharf is.

The wharf is considered a priority due to these being used for medical evacuations (although Bayview boat ramp could now be utilised for the same), and for emergency evacuations during bushfires should access be cut via the roads.

The one sentence reply was:

‘’Council is in the process of going to market for the design of the replacement/repair of the wharf at Bayview with the subsequent construction being subject to appropriate funding being available.’’

The NSW Boating Now program States:

''Funding will continue to be provided to assist with emergency repairs of boating infrastructure similar to the previous Boating Infrastructure Emergency Repair Pool (BIERP). Funding requests for emergency repairs can be received at any time without the need to submit a Boating Now Registration of interest form. 

More information about the BIERP is available through the BIERP Grant Guidelines.

To apply for BIERP grants, refer to the BIERP Grant Application Form.''

Additionally the Boating Infrastructure for Communities Grants Program - Program Guidelines, November 2024, states:

A total of $23 million has been allocated to the Program which includes funding for contingency, administration and evaluation. Projects will need to be delivered and final grant claims received by 30 June 2028.

Formal applications need to be submitted by late March 2025 for Communities Grants Program under the above.

Bayview, Mona Vale and Church Point residents have expressed concerns regarding the condition of the wharf, groyne and baths since before 2016. 

Drawing attention to the asset needing maintenance had already been on Pittwater Council's radar.  

On February 20 2015 it was announced that Pittwater’s water-side recreational facilities were about to get a boost, thanks to a $1.4 million injection from the State Government. The funding for boating infrastructure, announced at the official Palm Beach Wharf opening, would see major improvements to Church Point commuter wharf; Rowland Reserve’s boating launch facilities, Paradise Beach dinghy storage and funds for Bayview Wharf.

Pittwater Mayor, Jacqui Townsend said then Pittwater Council was very pleased that the State Government had responded to its advocacy for better water-side facilities.

“It’s great to be partnering with the State Government in delivering better facilities that will benefit the many recreational users that both live in and visit the area,” Cr Townsend said 

“Our boating facilities are integral to the lifestyle in Pittwater with many residents relying on them on a daily basis,’ she said. “We look forward to working with both the State Government and the locals to make these projects happen. 

“Wear and tear and the changing needs of our growing community all come at a high cost, and I’m thrilled that we can share the financial burden to upkeep these facilities with the state, avoiding Council having to pass on all the cost to our community through its rates,” she added.

Pittwater Council never had a problem attracting co-funding for the projects it needed to maintain infrastructure as part of its regulatory obligations as caretaker of public facilities on the estuary. On 15 October 2014 then Minister for Local Government Paul Toole and then Member for Pittwater Rob Stokes announced that Pittwater Council  would proceed with improvements to the Church Point Car Park Precinct thanks to a generous subsidy from the NSW Government in round three of the Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme (LIRS). In 2016 then GM Mark Ferguson announced those works would commence.

Rob Stokes said then; “To continue rebuilding NSW we need a strong local government sector with modern and sufficient infrastructure to match. “This project will see $7.4 million spent on the construction of a new car parking facility at Church Point and improvements made to the surrounding precinct.''

The George Street Foreshore project (Careel Bay) was able to secure Funding ($317k) for Stage 1 through a 50/50 grant from the State Government under the “Better Boating Program” (2014/15). By April 2015 Pittwater Council pursued grant opportunities with Crown Lands as part of their Foreshore Stabilisation Program, which then also provided funds on a 50/50 basis for the Stage 2 works, estimated at $330k.

At Palm Beach the extension to the public wharf officially opened in February 2015 stemmed from the NSW Government providing Pittwater Council with $1.5 million for the project. 

In August 2021 Mr. Stokes, still MP for Pittwater, announced a $2.5 million project jointly funded by the NSW Government and the then Northern Beaches Council to upgrade and extend Bells and Carols wharves on Scotland Island, a project since completed.

The current Council has also successfully completed works at Paradise beach (completed last week) and has contracted those underway at Taylor's Point wharf (which had repairs in 2020). Records indicate the state government provided funding towards the same. 

A total of $2.4 million was budgeted for remediation of Taylors Point Wharf and design work for Great Mackerel Beach and Currawong Wharves at the June 2024 Council Meeting. The accepted Tender for the Taylor's Point wharf replacement is an Estimated amount payable to the contractor under the contract (excluding GST) of $768 800, for the Paradise Beach Baths, groyne and wharf renewal the amount was $810 706.00 (excluding GST).

TfNSW's Boating Now Round 3 grant program (2020) provided Paradise Beach Wharf Upgrade Design ($20,655). The Boating Now Program, under Round 3, also provided funds for Bilarong Reserve Boat Ramp Improvements, Narrabeen Lagoon ($60,000), Church Point Commuter Wharf Feasibility Study ($40,250), Currawong Wharf Investigation and Detailed Design ($82,500), and Mackerel Beach Wharf Investigation and Detailed Design ($70,657).

Consultation on a new design for Mackerel's wharf is currently underway. Visit: Mackerel Beach Wharf Upgrade Design Open for Feedback:  Submissions close Sunday December 4

The status for Bayview Baths and Wharf as of this week, according to residents who have enquired and received more than a one sentence reply, is that Consultants have been engaged to complete various pre-requisite reports/studies (asbestos, aquatic ecology etc.) with another currently engaged to complete a heritage impact statement. 

Outcomes of these consultants reports will inform design options and concepts. These designs and concepts will then be drawn up and presented to a council meeting. After which, a community consultation will follow. After which, a tender will be advertised. After which, a grant to meet some of the costs will be sought. After which, works may commence.

This means there will be no access to a safe quick dip for the Mona Vale to Bayview to Church Point population for the foreseeable future. A heavy burden on residents as we draw to the close of the hottest year on record.

Atop this the BOM released its Long-range forecast for this Summer on November 28 2024 which states;

'' that summer is likely to be warmer than average across most of the country. Also, more than usual summer rainfall is likely for many parts of the country, particularly in December.

Most of the country is more likely to have a typical range of January rainfall, although parts of eastern New South Wales and south-east Queensland may see above average rainfall. In January the forecast currently signals the chance for above average rainfall in eastern parts of the state (of NSW).''

They could commute to the nearest beach, join the throngs that will try to escape western Sydney heat, and choke local roads to the point of sit-still.

They could catch a ferry to Scotland Island and use one of the fenced pool areas there, however, as reported last Issue, the island's trees are dying due to sewerage run-off, which inevitably filters down the hills into the estuary waters and impacts the pool areas allocated for the island. 

See: Scotland Island Dieback Accelerating: IPART Review of increases In Sydney Water's Pricing Proposals An Opportunity to ask: 'what happened to the 'Priority Sewerage Scheme' for our Island? - Closes December 9 2024

During the site investigations for the Salt Pan public wharf history page, and celebratory pictorial of the Salt Pan to Refuge Cove bays, it was quickly apparent that that public infrastructure has been neglected there as well - one pile is completely hollowed out while the others on the north-east side look as though they will give way at any moment. 

Above: Site investigations for History page, photos taken Friday November 22, 2024.

Considering that side of Pittwater is equally at danger during bushfire periods should roads be cut, and that wharf would be required for evacuations, the lack of maintenance on these wharves is not only putting lives at risk, it is also placing them at the point where they will fall down and be closed permanently until new infrastructure can be built.

See: Salt Pan Public Wharf, Regatta Reserve, Florence Park, Salt Pan Cove Reserve, Refuge Cove Reserve  and Salt Pan Cove Public Wharf on Regatta Reserve + Florence Park + Salt Pan Reserve + Refuge Cove Reserve: Some History

If the delve into what has been done since Bayview wharf first opened on December 1 1900 is anything to go by, maintenance on a quarterly basis, and repairs as soon as they are required are ignored at our own peril, especially when so much of the Pittwater community is an aquatics based one and reliant on public wharves.

Allowing these wharves to deteriorate to the point where everything must be replaced also increases the costs of what is required, along with denying the community access, potentially for years, while a complete replacement is undertaken.

The Bayview and Church Point Residents Association, along with those who have contacted the news service from Mona Vale to Church Point during the past years and months, believe the Baths would benefit from an upgrade, as they continue to be a popular community hub. 

To express your support for restoration of the Baths, please contact the Bayview Church Point Residents Association and let them know - raise your voice, add your voice. 

Pittwater Council area: The estimated population for 2023 is 64,006, with a population density of 708.3 people per square kilometre. 
The estimated population of Bayview, New South Wales in 2023 is 3,714, with a population density of 1,041 people per square kilometre. The 2021 census recorded a population of 3,807 in Bayview.

Below runs what state the baths and the wharf are in, as photographed on Wednesday November 27 2024, and some from that November 20, 2016 Centenary Celebration.

The Pittwater Wharves Plan of Management (POM) of 2008 under Pittwater Council  applied to ‘reserved’ Crown Land administered by the Department of Lands. Pittwater Council was appointed Corporate Manager of a potential twenty eight Public Wharf Reserve Trusts (refer listing). The Trust is charged with the care, control and management of the wharf reserves and Council manages the affairs of the Trust. The wharf reserves are designated for the public purpose of ‘Access’. 

Pittwater's Public Wharves are:
  1. Bayview (baths & jetty)  at Maybanke Cove 
  2. Bayview launching ramp at Rowland Reserve 
  3. Bells at Scotland Island 
  4. Bennets at Coasters Retreat 
  5. Bonnie Doon at Coasters Retreat 
  6. Browns Bay at McCarrs Creek 
  7. Careel Bay at Careel Bay 
  8. Cargo at Scotland Island 
  9. Carols at Scotland Island 
  10. Church Point Cargo at Church Point
  11. Church Point Commuter at Church Point 
  12. Church Point Jetty at Church Point 
  13. CP Public Pontoon / Ramp at Church Point 
  14. Eastern at Scotland Island 
  15. Elvina Bay North at Elvina Bay 
  16. Elvina Bay South at Elvina Bay 
  17. Halls at Lovett bay 
  18. Lovett Bay at Lovett Bay 
  19. Mackerel Beach at Great Mackerel Beach 
  20. Newport at Heron Cove 
  21. Palm Beach at Palm Beach 
  22. Paradise at Clareville 
  23. Salt Pan at Salt Pan Cove 
  24. Taylors Point at Clareville 
  25. Tennis Court at Scotland Island 
  26. Towlers / Morning Bay at Morning Bay 
  27. Upper McCarrs Creek at McCarrs Creek Reserve 
  28. Yachtsmans Paradise at Crystal Bay


Bayview Baths Centenary Celebration

Photos taken on Saturday November 20, 2016 
Hosted by the Bayview and Church Point Residents  Association

Margaret Makin BCPRA Committee Member
L to R; Jan Tinkler, Margaret Tink, Jenny Rosen AM and Barbara Tink.
Hon. Bronwyn Bishop and Hon. Rob Stokes with Kylie Ferguson, Dr. Jenny Rosen AM and Brokebn Bay Unit Commander Victor Lawrence and BBMR Members
Janice Tynum - Peninsula Music Club (which hosts wonderful concerts in Bayview school) with David Graham and John Croke
Alison and Gwen - along with brother Max - are all members of the Shaw family who have a long association with Bayview and Church Point - these young ladies remembered great times swimming at the baths when they were younger.


Marine Rescue Broken Bay, at Bayview - when this was the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol they were based off Bayview then too











Bayview wharf in 2018