Floating pool plan to turn Sydney Harbour into Lake Como

A bold plan to turnSydney Harbour into a swimmers’ paradise with a string of floating pools and swimming spots is a case of old is new again for the City of Sydney.

As Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay residents pointed out to CBD this morning,the City’s brainwave is not the first time a pool has been proposed for the popular Beare Park which sits on Elizabeth Bay next to a council-owned marina in Potts Point.

Recall in 2016 when the City of Sydney put the rights to redevelop the Elizabeth Bay Marinaout to tender. Wealthy businessmen including transport bossLindsay Fox,retail landlord andstud bossTheo Onisforouand scion of the famous pearling familyNick Paspaleyall indicated they would submit a tender,valiantly claiming a desire to protect the bay from overdevelopment.

Imagine that:a render of an earlier pool proposed for Elizabeth Bay.Supplied

Ultimately,Fox and Paspaley dropped out leaving Onisforou to team up with Rose Bay and Point Piper Marina ownerDenis O’Neil. They proposed a crescent shaped $5 million marina. And the cherry on top? A $1 million Euro-style floating pool built alongside and open to the public for free.

At the time,Onisforou and O’Neil said the pool had been inspired by similar amenities found in southern European pleasure spots such as Lake Como. Renders revealed a rectangular floating pool surrounded by a wide timber sun deck. The whole platform was connected via two parallel bridges to a timber wharf with a cafe and resort-style tables and umbrellas. Very alfresco.

An artist’s impression of a City of Sydney proposal for new harbour-side pool on the Glebe foreshore.Andrew Burges Architects

Alas,the council spurned the proposal and decided to redevelop the marina itself,consigning the developers’ Euro summer dreams to the trash heap of history.

Until this week. Problem is,a render of the City of Sydney’s proposed swimming area reveals an el cheapo netted swimming enclosure rather than a pool.

No doubt the residents know which iteration they would prefer. Or as one told CBD,“It’s not often that Lake Como gets things wrong”.

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Samantha Hutchinson

Samantha Hutchinson is the AFR's National Reporter. Most recently,she was CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Before that,she covered Victorian and NSW politics and business for The Australian,the AFR and BRW Magazine.

Stephen Brook

Stephen Brook is a special correspondent for The Age. He was previously deputy editor of The Sunday Age and a CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former media diarist and features editor of The Australian. He spent six years in London working for The Guardian.