Responding tofor multiple pools along the city’s foreshore,Mr Stokes said they involved “more heavy engineering interventions”.
Swimmers have been campaigning the state government to allow swimming at Marrinawi Cove on the Barangaroo foreshore in inner Sydney.Dominic Lorrimer
“We’re looking at much more natural places,” he said on Thursday as he announced plans to fund more parks and outdoor recreation areas.
“Ultimately,it’s up to the City of Sydney if they’ve got great ideas to put them forward,but we don’t want to see any big engineering interventions that are navigation hazards.”
Faced with concerns residents in Sydney’s west have fewer parks than those in other suburbs,the government has been elaborating a series of policies to boost access to outdoor spaces and recreation,including swimming.
Mr Stokes visited Barangaroo to say the government would allocate $50 million to create more swimming spots,playgrounds and walking tracks in Sydney,with the hope many of the projects would be in the western suburbs.
Planning Minister Rob Stokes said authorities were considering plans to allow people to safely swim at harbourside spots,including the Barangaroo foreshore.Rhett Wyman
“One of the lessons of the recent lockdown was just how important our public spaces and our parks are to everyone in our community,” Mr Stokes said.
“We really learned ... that our parkland and opportunities to enjoy places to roam,places to swim,and places to play,are not spread equitably. This program will seek to address some of this imbalance.”
The funding will be divided among projects for swimming,playing and roaming,with each category getting $16.7 million to distribute.
Councils and state government agencies can nominate projects and apply for grants from November 15.
An artist’s impression of a City of Sydney proposal for new harbour-side pool on the Glebe foreshore.Andrew Burges Architects
Mr Stokes said the scheme could help build more parks to encourage children to play outdoors,or fund more spots to swim and kayak safely on the Georges,Nepean and Parramatta rivers,Penrith Lakes,or Sydney Harbour.
One of the projects he expected might be nominated was a proposal to open for swimmers a part of the Barangaroo foreshore,where to allow swimming at Marrinawi Cove.
“We’ve already had divers down looking at stability and looking at the suitability of[the cove] as a place Sydneysiders might enjoy an iconic opportunity to swim,” Mr Stokes said.
“But there are many areas[throughout Sydney] where it is safe to swim,but we need to ensure the relevant infrastructure is there to keep people safe.”
Cr Moore,who is running for re-election,last month including Barangaroo,Pirrama Park in Pyrmont,Elizabeth Bay’s Beare Park. The plans ranged from short-term measures,such as improving water quality and installing shark nets,to a vision to build multiple pools on a man-made island on Rozelle Bay that would connect to the Glebe foreshore by footbridge.
A City of Sydney spokesman said the proposals for the pools were “not firm plans,scoped and ready to go – they’re a visual representation of what’s possible,over time,if we can improve the harbour water quality”.
“The Glebe foreshore features a speculative idea to generate further conversation in the community about what is possible,” he said.
Mr Stokes said the state government’s plans were “all about natural places and reflecting the natural beauty of Sydney’s harbour,and rivers,and lakes,more than trying to put in giant,big,manufactured settings”.
Harbourside swimming spots have come under the spotlight in the lead-up to the City of Sydney Council election next month. Liberal candidate Lyndon Gannon has suggested a series of free netted saltwater pools in Sydney Harbour,while mayoral hopeful Yvonne Weldon,an Independent,wants to create a network of “urban billabongs” or shallow lagoons,similar Brisbane’s Southbank,running from the harbour south to Sydney Park.
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