Christmas partygoers have swarmed to Sydney’s Bronte Beach in massive numbers to take advantage of a glorious Australian summer day, but locals fear the area will be trashed again just as it was last December.
Though it is one of Sydney’s smaller beaches, it’s overwhelmingly popular – particularly with the thousands of backpackers who call the city’s eastern suburbs home – and never more so than at this time of year.
Last year, locals were left furious after plastic bottles, broken glass, food scraps, clothes and human waste were left strewn across the park after up to 10,000 people attended.
One local told Daily Mail Australia that they ‘know to stay away from Bronte on Christmas’ so as to avoid the packed beach and surrounding parklands.
Among the vast numbers of foreign bikini and boardie-clad visitors this year was former England Test cricket captain Michael Vaughan.
While the crowd was well behaved, concerns about the mess left behind sparked an earlier warning issued from the City of Waverley Council to people planning to spend the day at Bronte Park and beach that authorities would be in attendance.
Councillor Joshua Spicer tried to quell local concerns, saying the council planned to implement new clean-up measures this year.
‘This includes extra rangers, security, and police, a dedicated cleaning crew with more bins and waste trucks,’ he posted online on Tuesday.
But locals were right to be a little apprehensive with scores of people posting footage of the area packed with crowds as police patrolled on horseback.
As people arrived early on Christmas Day on foot, by car and on buses, visitors and locals battled over the limited space on the eastern Sydney beach.
Last year’s party atmosphere was followed by the hangover of tonnes of waste left strewn across the beach by people who didn’t care to clean up after themselves.
But Mr Spicer said he is confident the steps the council has taken ‘will make a big difference this year’.
He added that Bronte Park will receive ‘crowd control pathways and temporary toilets’ under the council’s Summer Safe program.
The annual event has been affectionately called ‘Orphans Christmas’ by backpackers and tourists celebrating the holiday away from home.
Last year, the Waverley Council said the amount of rubbish was ‘disappointing’.
‘Our rangers were on site yesterday, alongside the police, ensuring the beach remained a safe environment for everybody,’ a spokesperson said at the time.
Some locals said last year’s party was the ‘worst ever’ and left the suburb looking like ‘a third world country’.
Others said the extent of misbehaviour left them feeling ‘in danger’ and wanting to move out of the area.
Despite Mr Spicer’s assurances, many locals think a repeat of what happened last year is inevitable.
‘Council and police won’t do anything about it,’ one resident posted online.
But Waverley Council said it would not tolerate any bad behaviour and had taken ‘a number of significant proactive measures to ensure our community can relax and enjoy the summer’.
‘The safe enjoyment of our public and recreational spaces is our number one priority,’ a spokesperson said.
‘We encourage everyone to enjoy our beaches responsibly and safely, ensuring they remain a welcoming space for all.’
NSW Police said officers are conducting patrols of Bronte, Bondi and Tamarama beaches ‘due to significant crowd numbers expected over the holiday period’.
The police said they were aware of a party planned at Bronte on Christmas Day and had been working with organisers.
‘There will be officers from Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command, assisted by specialist police, tasked to patrol the area to ensure the safety of visitors and manage crowd numbers,’ a spokesperson said.
‘People are reminded to check and abide by designated alcohol-prohibited and/or alcohol-free zones in the area. Alcohol and water don’t mix.’
Beachgoers were also warned not to swim or drive boats when intoxicated and said they would have a ‘significant presence’ on the roads and in the water over the coming day
