The west end of Williamstown Beach, near the sheltered rock groyne (breakwater) is a busy access point for the public.
Traffic from the carpark, bus terminus and the shared pathway converge at this point. Currently public infrastructure does not support public use, access or safety.
Plans for the redevelopment remove benches from the pathway outside the fence and replace them with walls and ledges.
The public are squeezed by the fence onto the pathway and the busy traffic around the key access points to the beach. Many people don’t like getting changed on Esplanade, near crowds of people eating.
The poor state of the public facilities has led to many locals paying to join WSLSC to use the club changerooms, toilets, showers.
Under the plans currently proposed, the bench these women are using will be replaced with steps leading to a door and large rocks (see image below).
The beachfront pathway, outside the WSLSC fence is busy and currently features benches for people to meet, under trees. The plans seem to remove the benches and replace with ledges and raised garden beds. With the removal of the pool, an opportunity for public space could be realised. The proposed plans replace the pool with a large administration block, members-only gym and steam room.
While open water swimmers will welcome the addition of a tower and beachfront first-aid room for essential lifesaving services, the other buildings could be located elsewhere onsite or moved slightly back to accommodate more public areas.
The removal of the ‘Members Only’ fence enclosing the lawn in front of the WSLSC hall is a step forward. This is a publicly-funded facility for supporting lifesaving and safer swimming, not a private beach country club.
The public showers, change area and toilets are shared by patrons of The Kiosk. There are not enough toilets, showers and changerooms for a popular beach. The redevelopment plans don’t adequately address the need for significantly upgraded public facilities.
This picture is taken at 7am and already there is a 20 minute queue for a toilet at Williamstown Beach. Two overwhelmed public toilets at the western end of the beach is clearly not enough.
The active zones at the western end of Williamstown Beach are not adequately recognised in the redevelopment plans.
The three red circles at the bottom of this pic highlight where regular swimmers meet and access the water. The top red circle is the toilets and changerooms. The pool could be readily removed and the area opened up for meeting places, gathering spaces, shade, shelter for the public.
This image below is a suggested design by Embrace Designs at Newport:
The proposed buildings that will replace the pool have been moved slightly back 1 – 3 metres to provide more room around the busy pathway. The current fenced-off pool area divides and imposes on public access to the beach. The pool can not be adequately managed to modern health and safety standards by volunteers and is mostly unused.
In Embrace Design’s plan, green areas and seating sit between the pathway and the wall of the WSLSC buildings. The south west corner of the WSLSC site no longer creates a choke-point at the carpark, but an inviting, welcoming public space:
The project page is HERE: https://participate.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/williamstown/wslsc#survey
Most Melbourne beaches do a better job than Williamstown at providing public facilities for swimmers. A problem with one toilet or shower means remaining facilities are overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed public facilities means more people will potentially want to join the WSLSC and less space will potentially be available for improved public facilities.
This is a link to our petition calling for better public facilities: https://www.change.org/WilliamstownBeachRedevelopment
Williamstown Open Water Swim Coaching 