After some thought, I declare Beaches as good
Especially beaches that bring relief and joy.
To most of the world Western Sydney Australia is probably perceived, I believe, as a beautiful western part of a beautiful city. The Opera Hall, the friendly people.
However, Sydney’s far west is prone to extremely hot temmperatures. Temperatures notoriously MUCH hotter than the eastern part of the city, the western edge averages 18 more days over 95 Fahrenheit. During the Black Summer bushfires of 2019/20, Penrith reached a record-breaking 120 degrees!
It’s been like this for a while, and it’s only going to get warmer. So, the Australian Government decided to do something about it.
They built a beach. Penrith Beach.
And now thanks to a manmade stretch of water and sand, Western Sydney’s estimated 2.6 million residents will be able to take a dip and cool off.
Construction began in October 2023, and was completed in early December with a public opening of the former rock quarry on 12/19.
The project included:
Lining the base of the quarry with a geomembrane liner to create a waterproof seal.
Filling the quarry with 270 million liters of filtered water from the Nepean River.
Trucking in 50,000 tonnes of pristine sand to create the beach.
Installing lifeguard towers, shade sails, and other amenities.
Close readers of this blog will remember a relatively recent post about Australia using public funds to save wildlife via overpasses and tunnels. I’d like to point out that in both Australian cases it involves a Government taking a pro-active role in working with the private sector for public good.
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Beaches are good.
Beaches where the public needs and longs for them are very good.