Ringing in the new year with privatisation: North Sydney Council set to ticket popular New Years Eve spot

Access to Blues Point this New Years Eve is set to be ticketed at $50, after North Sydney Council voted to begin charging access to the highly sought after vantage point. 

The decision was made in a Monday evening meeting and comes in light of North Sydney Council’s precarious financial position following the rejection of their proposed rate rise and costs incurred during the redevelopment of North Sydney Olympic Pool.

In the past, North Sydney Council has absorbed the costs associated with hosting thousands of Sydney-siders and tourists during New Years Eve into its budget. However, given this current financial predicament, it will attempt to partially cover these expenses.

While North Sydney Council had previously budgeted $1.086 million for New Years Eve, the tickets sold for access to Blues Point (the vantage points of Blues Point and Henry Lawson Reserves) will only recover $305,000 of the council's expenses.

Greens Councillor Angus Hoy spoke against the decision, saying they couldn't reconcile themselves “with this level of privatisation and lack of accessibility of what is a typically free and open public space.” 

Agreeing with concerns raised by the member of the public, he went on to state that “for a family to attend, they would be looking in the order of a hundred dollars to attend a park.”

Hoy proposed the council instead scrap the fee and write to the state government requesting they help cover the council’s hosting costs for New Year Eve. 

“They [State government] wax lyrical in tourism publications about the benefits of New Years Eve, and I think that should be reflected in their contributions to councils.”

Councillor Hoy’s amendment was voted down, but Mayor Baker ultimately moved to include Hoy’s request to write to the state government in the motion, stating that if the request was fulfilled they would not go forward with the fees.

The final motion was passed 6 to 4.

Image Credit: North Sydney Council