The man behind the hugely controversial Amalfi Beach Club proposal – one that, if adopted, would see about 2% of Bondi Beach roped off for paying VIPs – has again defended the plan, asserting that it’s not elitist, actually.
Janek Gazecki, who is also the spearhead of the Polo In The City event series, has been on the war path the past few days after his Amalfi Club proposal was first revealed on Wednesday.
After initially firing back at press coverage claiming it’s all “rubbish” – it is the truth, but – Gazecki has doubled down on his initial double downing by insisting that the $80 per-person price tag is not elitist, in fact. And if anyone had happened to have frequented one of the bougie beach clubs in Europe recently, they would understand this.
Speaking with Ben Fordham on 2GB yesterday morning, Gazecki quite stubbornly asserted that the per-person cost of his proposal – which would see a 30m x 40m stretch of Bondi sand roped off for 100 paying customers – was comparable to visiting any restaurant in Bondi. He also stated that Bondi has been closed off routinely in the past for events such as the City2Surf and Nippers meets, which are clearly comparable schemes to this $80 per-person private beach club.
“I would challenge anyone to attend a Bondi restaurant and pay less than 80 bucks – it’s not an extortionate price by any means,” he stated, in defence of its price tag.
He then defended the proposal by stating that anyone who had recently visited similar clubs on Italy’s Amalfi Coast would recognise that is, in actual fact, just a nice casual day out with the family.
“I don’t know if anyone has recently been to the Amalfi Coast… but the clubs there are not elitist. You just walk in off the street and you get pampered with some yummy food and alcohol and enjoy it with your kids – that’s all this is.”
I… see.
The proposal has already been shot down in one form by Waverley Local Council, after initial plans called for it to run from November through February. A revised version of the plan, with a proposed running period of February through May, is now with the council for consideration.
