Western Sydney's first beach has opened to the public this morning. Locals have been waiting a long time for the opening and have nicked-named it 'Pondi' after Sydney's most iconic beach.
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00:00 They've been waiting years for this beach and today the day is finally here.
00:05 Penrith Beach is open to the public.
00:07 This is Western Sydney's first ever beach and it's going to allow locals to be able
00:12 to cool off a little bit closer to home rather than having to travel over an hour to get
00:17 to the ocean or another swimming spot.
00:20 And locals have begun dubbing this beach Pond Eye, Penrith's answer to Bond Eye.
00:25 And you can see why.
00:26 I mean there's plenty of sand here that's been trucked in to be put on top of the natural
00:31 sand and there are also lifeguards on scene as well.
00:35 And this is a $1.7 million makeover from the state government and this is a little bit
00:40 of what the Deputy Premier Prukar had to say earlier.
00:44 It is the length of Bond Eye Beach right here in the middle of Penrith.
00:50 This has been locked up.
00:52 Locals know that inside this area there was such an opportunity for local people in the
00:59 hottest part of Sydney to come and enjoy a free beach, something that other parts of
01:05 Sydney take for granted.
01:09 About a hundred people have already arrived this morning to enjoy this beach but they
01:12 are expecting thousands to come every day.
01:15 This beach is open from 7am to 7pm every day until early March except for Christmas Day.
01:22 People do need to pre-arrange parking spots.
01:25 There are 700 parking spots available and they are all booked out today.
01:29 But plenty of the locals we've been chatting to are really enjoying this beach.
01:33 Take a listen.
01:34 It's so hot out here.
01:35 It was 43 degrees last week and it's nice to be able to go somewhere.
01:39 Normally you have to travel an hour and a half to two hours to get to a beach.
01:43 There's no waves, it's shallow, it's calm, flat, so it's perfect for the little kids.
01:47 It's good that everyone can experience a beach that lives out west.
01:55 Today is expected to be a scorcher, especially for Western Sydney.
01:59 They're expecting a maximum of 38 degrees in Penrith today and similar temperatures
02:04 around Liverpool, Parramatta and Campbelltown.
02:07 But a cool change is expected to hit later tonight and that will bring some extended
02:11 wet weather, some relief for residents and also reduce the fire threat as well.
02:16 But when those hot summer days return, then Penrith Beach will be ready and waiting.
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