It’s late summer, on a breathless morning with the temperature sitting somewhere in the mid 30 degrees. The type of morning in Western Sydney when you don’t so much breathe the humid, heavy air as ingest it. 
“Gonna be a warm one,”
says an older man, walking past in boardies with a towel over his shoulder.
Around us, a small and varied collection of people, of different ages and backgrounds, are busy either finding a spot on the sand or finding some respite in the cool, quiet water.
They might not know it or appreciate it, but they’re benefitting from an Australian first – the rehabilitation and conversion of a former quarry into a community asset, now in the first phase of its new life as a collection of lakes in the Penrith area.
Boral’s Head of Property, Kate Jackson, a Director on the Board of the Penrith Lakes Development Corporation (PLDC) – the entity that has overseen the rehabilitation of the site and handover to the State Government – said while not uncommon in the northern hemisphere, this type of remediation is a first in Australia and possibly the southern hemisphere.
“Penrith Lakes was once the largest sand and gravel quarry in the southern hemisphere responsible for producing 80 per cent of Sydney’s building supplies,” Kate said.
“And as an employee of the major shareholder, this exemplifies the 360-degree ‘end to end’ approach we take at Boral when it comes to the responsible management of our properties through the lifecycle of the asset.”
Since its opening in late December, through to the end of February, Penrith Beach as it is officially known, registered more than 150,000 visitors over the summer period. Opened by the NSW Government ahead of Christmas, the area provides a much closer option for Western Sydney residents, who would otherwise be looking to drive up to 60km to the coast to enjoy a day at the beach.
“What’s been really satisfying to see with this first phase is the realisation of the PLDC’s goal of delivering an asset that meets community needs of Western Sydney and beyond for years to come.”
Kate Jackson, Head of Property.