Heritage Tram Dunny Unlikely to Be Canned in Upgrade

It’s not the Parthenon, but a 77-year-old toilet building in North Bondi is seen as having enough heritage value to be retained when Waverley Council embarks on a multi-million dollar makeover of the area.

The toilets are accessed with a key by drivers of the buses that begin and end their journeys at the North Bondi bus terminus. Originally the facilities were designed for drivers and conductors of the trams that used to rattle up and down Campbell Parade. The building went up in 1946 when part of the hillside was excavated to create a level tram terminus. Then, in 1960, the trams stopped and were replaced by bus services. The tram cutting was filled in and regraded to create a bus terminus.

Now Waverley Council is floating the idea of shifting the bus terminus further up the hill to Military Road, south of Blair Street, as part of an upgrade of the North Bondi shopping strip area. A report tabled at a recent meeting of the Strategic Planning and Development Committee stated, “This relocation provides greater space within the Campbell Parade streetscape to utilise as footpath, park and general public space.”

Council told The Beast that the upgrade ideas being looked at were first canvassed several years ago, but not proceeded with at the time, and that it will now develop what it describes as “updated versions of the early concepts,” but only after extensive consultations with community representatives and other stakeholders.

Creation of the new terminus up the hill would involve resuming a roadside slice of Williams Park and building a new roundabout at the Military Road intersection with Blair Street to facilitate bus turnarounds.

While the bus terminus would move from its present site under this scenario, the toilet block, euphemistically referred to by Council as the ‘tram shed’, would remain. However, it would be used for other purposes. In a concept development document released by Council, a firm of landscape architects retained to identify upgrade options for the area recommends “adaptive re-use of the heritage tram shed.”

This is welcome news to local historian Peter Kahn, an expert on the history of the Bondi and Bronte trams.

“The building has heritage value and should be preserved - it’s an important link with the history of the Sydney Tramways,” explained Mr Kahn, a Clovelly resident and Public Relations Officer at the Sydney Tramway Museum.

Meanwhile, the bus drivers who find the building a very welcome comfort stop, especially when they’ve just driven a 333 all the way from Circular Quay during rush hour, are hoping their needs will be taken into account if the terminus ends up being shifted.

“We’d be very upset if a new terminus is built without staff toilets,” bus driver Garry told The Beast.

Relocating the terminus to create a leafy pedestrian haven is one of two broad options being canvassed by Waverley Council for the North Bondi makeover. It has released details of an alternative, much less expensive option where the terminus is retained. Both options involve upgrading the shopping strip with wider footpaths, vegetation and pedestrian seating.

Council hopes to reach a consensus on parking, landscaping and other core issues after extensive consultations with community stakeholders.

“No decisions have been made whatsoever about design elements,” a spokesperson said.

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Once Upon a Time... in BONDIWOOD

Hollywood, Shmollywoodmove over baby, we’ve got BONDIWOOD! Bondi is still the entertainment capital of Australia, so it makes perfect sense to us.

Despite all the gentrification over the last couple of decades, there are still more actors, writers, directors and musicians in Bondi than you can poke a stick at. Bondi is still the creative heart of Australia’s film and television industry, with more feature films and hit TV shows coming from the residents of this beautiful little bay than anywhere else in the country. From global film festivals like Cannes and Sundance, to smash hit television productions seen all over the planet, the wonderful creatives in our little corner of the world have elevated us to the level of Renaissance Florence and Paris in the 1920s.

‘Hyperbole’, you ask?

‘Showbiz’, says local filmmaker and Festival Director Haydn Keenan, who’s stepped up and launched our very own film festival, BONDIWOOD.

“We’ve decided to showcase this treasure trove of talent,” Mr Keenan told The Beast

“Come early October, we’re going to take over the newly renovated Bondi Pavilion to celebrate the creative spirit of this place.”

BONDIWOOD is a four-day festival of films by localsfeature films, documentaries, shorts, surf films, music videos and kids movies. There will be something for everyone.

Mr Keenan told The Beast he’s been overwhelmed by ‘film people’ willing to put something back into their own community.

“This is just for us locals to celebrate the history and fun that has always been Bondi,” he said.

“Every film will have the creatives behind it doing a Q&A, and we’ll be running a number of panels, with actors giving young people dos and don’ts of the business, producers explaining how to get your film idea going, and historians talking about the incredible legacy of creativity in our area.”

There will also be heaps of door prizes, awards and meat trays to be won.

“No highbrow stuff for us; this is Scum Valley and that’s how we love it!”

With the generous help of Waverley Council and the awesome people of the bay, BONDIWOOD will run from October 5-8. For more information, visit smartstreetfilms.com.au.