Sydney council cracks down on notorious Christmas Day beach bash

A Sydney council will heighten police patrols and set up checkpoints at an eastern suburbs beach after 15,000 revellers swarmed an unofficial Christmas Day bash last year, leaving a sea of rubbish.

For years, thousands of mostly backpackers and expats have converged on Bronte Beach and park to drink, swim and celebrate on December 25. The bacchanalia has ignited a growing backlash from Waverley Council and locals, who have complained about noise, anti-social behaviour and rubbish.

Mayor Will Nemesh said the increased enforcement of alcohol and glass bans formed part of a new management plan for the gathering after the 2024 crowd surged 20 per cent from the previous year.

“What we saw last year, particularly the mess our community was confronted with on Boxing Day morning, was unacceptable,” Nemesh said.

“This is not an approved or managed council event, and while we strongly discourage crowds from attending, we cannot ban people from the beach. That said, we are committed to mitigating the impacts on the community as much as possible.”

Residents have long derided the party, largely due to the rubbish left for the council to clean up on Boxing Day morning. At a community forum, one resident said partygoers treated the park as a “mass urinal”.

The council on Monday said the strategy, prepared following community consultation, included a boosted police and security presence, including checkpoints, to help manage alcohol and glass bans.

Bronte, Bondi and Tamarama beaches are alcohol-free zones.

The council also said it would ramp up cleaning services through the day and overnight in a bid to make sure the beachfront park was clean before sunrise on Boxing Day. It will also install more toilets and water stations, and set up a dedicated emergency services area to speed up responses.

Bus services will be added to reduce congestion on streets around the beach, as well as extra crowd management and supervision measures.

The council had considered four options, including making partygoers pay for tickets to access an alcohol-free version of the party; erecting an expensive temporary fence around the beach and park, or holding a large “festival-style” music event, preferably somewhere else in the eastern suburbs.

Nemesh said the plan responded to requests for improvements to medical care, water stations, security and police patrols, and traffic control. The council will review the strategy next year.

“From our consultation with residents and the broader community, as well as police, businesses and local groups, we know rubbish was a major concern last year,” Nemesh said.

“Council has engaged professional event cleaning contractors to operate throughout the day and overnight, and the goal is for the park to be back to normal as quickly as possible.”

Nemesh said, while the gathering was unauthorised, the council would work with police, transport operators, council rangers and parks staff, lifeguards and surf clubs to ensure local authorities had “the most robust response in place to protect community safety, amenity and the environment”.

“We cannot stop people from gathering, but council expects this strategy will go a long way to mitigate concerns raised following Christmas Day at Bronte Beach [in 2024],” he said.

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