THE 109-years-young Newcastle Ocean Baths is a state and regional icon. We all must treat it with due reverence and respect. I understand Newcastle council's decision to cover the existing natural rock-shelf base with a huge concrete slab was driven by the cleaning staff to make the annual job of complete sand removal easier and reduce costs.
I understand the last small proportion of the annual sand removal requires manual labour for about a day to remove the sand from existing rock crevices that also serve to stabilise and evenly disperse the sand washed in by the wave action. It's estimated that the likely cost saving may be around $5000-$10,000 per year. Compare this with an estimated minimum $1.5 million cost to impose a massive concrete slab. I understand insufficient assessments have been undertaken to determine the full negative impact of the concrete slab, including on the vibrant marine ecology, such as seahorses, crabs, fish, and the occasional penguin.
