Putney Beach: Sydney's newest beach opens in Ryde

The Parramatta River Masterplan was written in 2018 with the goal of making sections of the river safe for swimmers.
Putney Beach is the latest major swimming spot for Parramatta River.
A Grand Opening will be held on January 19 with a smoking ceremony and opening speeches.
READ MORE: Shark Beach has finally reopened after a long three year wait.

Sydney got its first new beach in years just over a year ago when Penrith Beach opened at the tail end of 2023. Now, there’s a new one on the horizon, which has been in development for seven years.

Putney Beach nears Gladesville, in the City of Ryde, will be open for swimmers this Saturday, January 18, after several delays in the construction approval process.

Putney Beach is the result of the Parramatta River Masterplan, which was conceived in 2018 with the ultimate goal of making Parramatta River safe for swimmers by 2025. While the river is much, much bigger than just Putney, this swimming site marks an important step in urban development along the river foreshore.

Water quality issues has been the main reasons for the delay but now the City of Ryde has confirmed that the site is ready to welcome swimmers looking for a new patch of sand in a city that’s defined by them.

“This new swim site – which joins others planned, or already operating, along the sparkling Parramatta River – will provide amazing recreation opportunities for our residence, who will no longer have to endure a long car ride to get to the closest beach,” City of Ryde Mayor Trenton Brown told Sydney Morning Herald.

Locals have already nicknamed the new beach “Panly” as an obvious riff on the must more famous Manly Beach. Given Penrith Beach already has “Pondi” locked away. we think Panly is an apt nickname moving forward.

“Obviously we’ll never be a Bondi or Manly,” admitted Councillor Keanu Arya. “Putney is a place [that] offers a bit more than just being a park. We have beaches all over Sydney, but we don’t have anything in Ryde to access our beautiful river.”