By Ivan Power, Co-founder, Active Rivers Collective
Sydney is one of the world's great beach cities. But not everyone gets to enjoy it.
We have become two cities: a beach city and a black-line city. Along the coast, beaches are part of everyday life. For many inland communities, swimming pools are the main place to enjoy the water. We definitely need good pools. But we can do more.
Beaches are some of the best social infrastructure our money can buy. They are places to swim, paddle, play sport, exercise, cool down, meet friends and spend time with family. They help build water safety, physical health, stronger communities and local economies.
And you shouldn't need a coastal postcode to enjoy one.
The good news? Western Sydney has plenty of water, beautiful places and growing communities. And much of that water is cleaner than it has been for generations.
We can bring our inland beaches back.
That's why we established the Active Rivers Collective (ARC), with a simple ambition:
20 safe inland beaches across Sydney by 2030.
Sounds ambitious? We already have a growing number of inland swimming sites, including Penrith Beach and Lake Parramatta. There are plenty more possibilities along the Nepean, Hawkesbury, Parramatta and Georges rivers.
But opening a swimming site is just the beginning.
We need three things: access, capability and culture.
Access means safe places to enter, enjoy and leave the water.
Capability means helping people develop the confidence and skills to swim, paddle, sail, surf and enjoy water safely.
Culture means bringing people together. Local clubs, swimming groups, paddlers, families and sporting organisations creating the activities, traditions and communities that make beaches thrive.
That's how Australia built its coastal beach culture more than a century ago. Communities led. Governments and sporting bodies helped. The infrastructure followed.
Now it's Western Sydney's turn.
And the benefits go well beyond swimming. More active communities. Better water safety. Relief from summer heat. More local recreation, hospitality, sport and tourism. And importantly, beaches are not just for aquatic sports - they are great enablers to getting Western Sydney moving. Beaches make it easier to walk, run and cycle, because they provide a safe, attractive and cheap way to cool off and come together afterwards.
So, where's your beach going to be?
ARC is a movement, not another institution. We want to bring together communities, sporting organisations, businesses and governments to make beaches happen and keep them safe.
We need people who can identify a potential site, build aquatic skills, organise local activities, contribute expertise or help fund infrastructure.
If you have an idea, a skill or a partnership to offer, we'd like to hear from you. Visit our website at https://www.activerivers.com.au and get in touch.
Let's bring our beaches back. Beach by beach, community by community.
