City of Newcastle has opted not to re-open the Bathers Way pathway at South Newcastle Beach until the entire skate park project is complete.
Newcastle council said the upgrade of Bathers Way at South Newcastle Beach was on track for completion in mid-2024, in line with the end date announced after previous builder Lloyd Group collapsed into administration.
But the previous plan to re-open the lower promenade connecting Newcastle Beach to King Edward Park before the rest of the project has been cancelled, despite the council saying the lower promenade footpath was finished in December 2023.
A spokesperson for City of Newcastle said workers were using the Bathers Way access from King Edward Park to catch up on four weeks of work lost this year due to wet weather.
"To ensure community safety, City of Newcastle will not re-open this Bathers Way connection before the project is completed due to the potential for machinery conflicting with pedestrian access," the spokesperson said.
The decision is a change from the council's plans to open the lower promenade in December 2023, which was later pushed back to February 2024.
"Once the lower promenade is complete, the community will once again be able to walk from Merewether through to Nobbys and onto the Harbour Foreshore," a City of Newcastle spokesperson said on February 16 2024.
The council then said on February 29 that a contractor working on stabilising the adjacent cliff face requested the access remain closed to pedestrians while they completed the work.
The cliff work, which the council said was separate to the Bathers Way project, was completed in April.
It involved installing "a softer surface for rocks to fall into, reducing rocks bouncing into the fence".
Contracts for rock mulch works at South Newcastle and South Newcastle and Kilgour rock bolting and catch fence appear on the council's contracts register, with costs of $250,435 and $523,741 respectively.
The cost and timeline of the South Newcastle Beach Bathers Way project have changed significantly since work began in August 2020 with an initial contract of $10.997 million.
Daracon was employed to finish the work after Lloyd Group went into administration in March 2023.
The council said it spent $8.6 million on the project before Lloyd Group finished and that the cost for Daracon to complete the project was just under $11.5 million, making it a $20 million spend.
The council spokesperson said on June 5 the price to finish the project had not increased.
