Council's Recreation Needs Study 2015 identified that there was a high level of community demand for water-based recreation activities. It found there was a need to create opportunities for increased participation in water based recreation, including providing additional opportunities to store light vessels (boards, dinghies and kayaks) where possible.

Council currently has 8 formal storage facilities for small water craft. With the exception of the dinghy racks in Kurraba Reserve, all these facilities are at capacity, and all have waiting lists. In addition, the North Sydney foreshores are dotted with numerous dinghies, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards (SUP’s). While this informal storage has been generally condoned as contributing to the character and diversity of the harbour foreshores, the dramatic increase in the number of water craft in recent years (due to increasing affordability of kayaks and SUP’s and the lack of formal storage facilities) has created a number of problems.

Publicly-owned open space around the foreshores of Sydney Harbour is not only in limited supply, but it is in high demand for a wide variety of recreational pastimes. While Council is committed to providing opportunities for water-based recreation around the harbour foreshore, including space and facilities where small water craft may be stored, Council’s primary obligation is to ensure the general public is able to access and use publicly-owned foreshore open space for general recreation purposes.

In March 2016 Council resolved to undertake a full review of small water craft current and potential storage opportunities (both formal and informal) across the local government area, in order to determine a range of appropriate upgrading, improvement and new works, and to identify priority locations for storage. This Discussion Paper is the result.

Twenty-six submissions and one petition were received regarding the Draft SWCSS during the public exhibition period. All feedback was reported to Council, and Council adopted the SWCSS, including alterations as a result of the submissions, in August 2018 (see OSE02 in document library).

The draft SWCSS was on public exhibition Tuesday 29 May - Tuesday 3 July.

Groups and individuals who previously made submissions, known stakeholders and the general community were notified and invited to provide comments. You can view the draft strategy in the document library or click here to download.

Submissions closed 5pm, Tuesday 3 July 2018.

More information: contact Megan White Landscape Planner/Architect on 9936 8100.

Preparation of the draft SWCSS was completed in May 2018. The issues and ideas raised in submissions on the Discussion Paper were incorporated into the development of the draft SWCSS where appropriate. The draft Strategy is also consistent with Council’s recent resolution to remove all water craft from Hayes Street Beach by the end of August 2018.

Once the public exhibition period closed, all submissions were reviewed, and a report to Council was prepared, detailing the content of all submissions. The report, Small Water Craft Storage Strategy Discussion Paper - Post Exhibition (1MB) was considered at the Council meeting held on Monday, 20 November 2017. The Report described measures taken to ensure that user groups and the general public were aware that the Discussion Paper was available for viewing and comment. It also summarised community and stakeholder feedback received according to 6 Key Themes:

• Theme 1: Existing Informal Storage Sites
• Theme 2: Existing Formal Storage Facilities
• Theme 3: A One-Size-Fits-All Approach
• Theme 4: Registration Process for Water Craft Stored on Public Foreshore Land
• Theme 5: Additional Sites for Formal Storage Facilities
• Theme 6: Other Water-Based Recreation Opportunities & Issues

The report recommended:

1. THAT the information contained in this report be posted on the ‘Small Water Craft Storage’ page on Council’s website.
2. THAT a draft Small Water Craft Storage Strategy be prepared for public exhibition.

Council unanimously resolved the following:

1. THAT Council defer this item to a Councillor Briefing.
2. THAT Council prepare a report for the Briefing which assesses the impact of the alienation of public open space for private use in the context of storing private water craft on public land.

At its meeting of 22 May 2017, Council endorsed public exhibition of the Small Water Craft Storage Strategy Discussion Paper. The public exhibition period ran for a period of 10 weeks.

Public exhibition of the Discussion Paper provided the many interested community members and other stakeholders with an opportunity to contribute ideas, and offer thoughts and suggestions about the future of small water craft storage in North Sydney.

Council recognises that the various groups and individuals involved in water-based recreation and use of public foreshore parks have different needs. People who commented on the SWCSS Discussion Paper included those who:

• Store dinghies in one of Council’s formal storage facilities to access (RMS) swing moorings in the bays.
• Store dinghies informally on the foreshore to access (RMS) swing moorings in the bays.
• Store kayaks, SUP’s or other small water craft in one of Council’s formal storage facilities (only some of these are available to ‘non-dinghies’).
• Store kayaks, SUP’s or other small water craft informally on the foreshore.
• Store their water craft at home and transport it to and from the foreshore.
• Would like formal storage for their vessel, but are currently unable to get it due to lack of availability or cost.
• Use the foreshore for other forms of recreation.

By the time the public exhibition period concluded on 28 August 2017, a total of 40 submissions had been received.

Small Water Craft Storage Strategy Discussion Paper (3MB)

In March 2016 Council resolved to undertake a full review of small water craft current and potential storage opportunities (both formal and informal) across the local government area, in order to determine a range of appropriate upgrading, improvement and new works, and to identify priority locations for storage.

Hayes Street Beach Small Private Water Craft Storage (4MB)