Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte beaches will reopen next week, following a vote held by Waverley Council yesterday.

Unlike Randwick Council – which yesterday opened Clovelly, Coogee and Maroubra for “exercise purposes only”, only swimmers and surfers will be allowed back onto Waverley's beaches.

That means no running, walking or exercising on the sand. The beaches will be subject to strict opening times, from 7am to 5pm. They’ll also be closed on weekends in order to curb crowds. The numbers of swimmers in the water will be monitored – if the surf gets too crowded, the beaches will be closed.

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In a statement released last week, Waverley mayor Paula Masselos insisted “that our beaches remain closed and that we have no intention of opening our beaches at this time”.

The council has called a press conference at 2pm today, which it will use to roll out more specifics.

It remains to be seen how long this cautious, partial reopening will last. Manly and Dee Why were due to reopen to the public yesterday. In a statement released yesterday, the Northern Beaches Council announced a one-week extension on its beach closures.

“Following a further review and in light of data from NSW Health over the last few weeks that identified Manly and Dee Why as hotspots for community transmission of Covid-19, the beaches in those areas will remain closed until next Tuesday 28 April,” the statement read.

Other beaches in the north, such as Collaroy and Avalon, remain open. All car parks in the Northern Beaches are currently subject to one-hour parking limits.

Yesterday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that crowds at Coogee were being moved along for disregarding the beach’s exercise-only restrictions. In a Facebook post yesterday, Randwick City council praised beachgoers for adhering to the new rules.

“We spent time at Coogee, Clovelly and Maroubra beaches today and the vast majority of people were all social distancing and moving on quickly after their exercise. We know warmer temperatures and the weekend will bring new challenges, but we hope together we can do the right thing to keep our beautiful beaches accessible.”