Jean Mitchell Baths Dunois Street Longueville – Lane Cove Council Officer’s Recommend No Restoration

Lane Cove Councillors have discussed the fate of the Jean Mitchell Baths on Woodford Bay six times between November 2022 and June 2024.

The Baths are also referred to as the Lucretia Baths.

The Lane Cove Council February meeting will be held on Thursday, 19 February 2026. At this meeting, councillors will vote on whether to remove the bath structure.

Lane Cove Council staff recommend removing the baths following extensive investigation and community consultation. These processes found that rebuilding or reinstating the baths is not financially or operationally sustainable.

The officer’s report notes that the bath structure has reached the end of its life, creating ongoing safety and navigational risks. Transport for NSW (TfNSW) has directed Council to remove unsafe elements as a safety measure.

The report further notes that Lucretia Baths have been closed and unusable since February 2023 due to advanced structural deterioration, with multiple Council reports confirming the site is no longer safe or viable for use.

If the councillors vote to remove the structure, council staff have recommended re-wilding the site into a naturalised foreshore environment, as this would provide passive recreation, sensory benefits for residents, and reduce long-term risk and cost exposure.

It is also recommended that Lane Cove Council prepare a heritage interpretation and oral history project to preserve and share the social and cultural significance of Lucretia Baths, responding to strong community feedback and time-sensitive heritage risk.

The report notes:

“While the original intent of the project was to rebuild the Lucretia Baths, further investigation has demonstrated that this outcome is no longer viable. Detailed research has confirmed that no external grant funding is currently available to support reconstruction of the baths, and that estimated costs are significantly higher than originally anticipated due to the advanced deteriorated condition of the structure and the complexities of working in a marine environment.

Marine structures are inherently expensive to construct and maintain, requiring ongoing inspection, repair and renewal to address corrosion, tidal exposure and environmental impacts. These ongoing maintenance obligations would place a significant and recurrent financial burden on Council, which cannot be sustainably accommodated within existing budgets.

In addition, the Lane Cove foreshore already provides alternative swimming opportunities, including Greenwich Baths, which offers managed access and partial patrols during the swimming season. In this context, committing to the long-term reconstruction and maintenance of an additional marine bathing structure cannot be justified, particularly given the significant financial pressures across Council’s broader facilities and asset portfolio.

It is therefore the view of staff that rebuilding the baths would not represent prudent financial management or best value for the community when assessed against competing infrastructure priorities and service needs.”

Background

In 2017, an article about Lucretia Baths on the Ocean Pools NSW website by Simon Duffin mentioned:

“I did manage to cut myself a few times swinging onto the metal stairs at the deep end, and although any shark would have had to be pretty hungry and pretty slim to get through the gap left by the one missing plank of wood in the fence, it did make me cut short my swim, as it was stinging even in the water.”

November 2022 Lane Cove Council Jean Mitchell Baths Restoration Resolution 

In November 2022, Lane Cove Councillors were advised by staff that the baths were unsafe and that TFNSW was concerned about the safety risks posed by boat owners tying their vessels to the structure.

The Lane Cove Council resolution:

• Noted the results of the community consultation
• Noted the Baths are an item of heritage significance within the Lane Cove LGA.
• Noted that Lane Cove Council wanted to restore the Baths, but any works would be limited to replacing like with like.
• Lane Cove Council received a report at its September 2023 Meeting providing an update on the funds required to draft plans acceptable to Transport for NSW (or other regulatory authorities).  These plans will then be used to prepare a Development Application.
• Lane Cove Council has safety warning signs and other measures in place to prevent unauthorised entry to the Baths (these will remain in place until the Baths are restored).
• A funding model is reviewed at the Lane Cove Councillors’ 2024 corporate planning weekend, with the aim of including the Baths in the Council’s 2024/25 Budget.

2022/2023 Community Consultation

Lane Cove Council commenced community consultation on the future of the Baths between 22 December 2022 and 28 February 2023.

Lane Cove locals were asked what the Council should do next and what their preferred outcome for the site was from the following two options:

1. Complete rebuild of the Baths (cost $600,000)
2. Demolition and removal of the Baths structure and the rejuvenation of the foreshore (cost $150,000)

A third option was for the community to specify alternatives to a complete rebuild or demolition and removal.

A total of 301 responses were received.  This included 267 responses to LCC’s survey and 34 separate written submissions.  These responses included recommendations from the Lane Cove Historical Society and the Longueville Residents Association.

The results were as follows:

The 2023/2024 Budget Papers did not include funding for the restoration of the baths.  Read more about the LCC Budget here.

In 2022 and 2023, Lane Cove Council applied for a grant to rebuild the bath under the NSW Government Places to Swim -2021/22 Grant Program, but they were unsuccessful.

At the November 2022 meeting, Councillor Kennedy proposed a community engagement plan in which the Council gauges community interest in volunteering and explores potential sponsorships. The community engagement process could include a mechanism to capture any additional suggestions from the community to support ongoing maintenance.

Councillor Kennedy noted that residents had suggested adopting the same model as the Lane Cove Bushcare Volunteer Programme to assist with restoring and maintaining the baths.

Since then, Lane Cove Council staff have commissioned reports on the cost of rebuilding the baths.

Not the First Time Council Has Closed a Harbour Bath

Lane Cove Council took over the lease for the Tambourine Bay Baths from the Maritime Service Board.

Recurring health, safety and maintenance issues led to the permanent closure of the Tambourine Bay Baths.

Late in 2015, the Council marked the location of the Tamborine Bay Baths with a plaque to recognise the site’s unique history and made improvements to the recreation and picnic area.

Watch the Lane Cove Council February Meeting Webcast