Bondi History | Stella the Smella

Stella the Smella

It’s a neighbourhood landmark. Many locals call it the “stinkpot”, but she’s also affectionately referred to as “Stella the Smella”. We’re referring to the 30m high tower that stands sentinel within the grounds of the Bondi Golf Club overlooking the north end of the beach.

It’s actually a venting tower that was once an integral part of the Bondi Sewage Treatment Plant. Underneath this tower there are 6 stories of excavated chambers, tunnels and enormous settling pools within which raw sewage is treated, with the effluent ultimately pumped 2.2km out to sea via tunnels that have been drilled deep within the sandstone seabed. One of the local firies talked us out of trying to get down there for a look … describing the scene as “part Charles Dickens, part Raiders of the Lost Ark … an incredible assault on the senses. You’d die down there.”

Work on redirecting sewage outfall from the harbour to the coast started in 1880, and even then there was fear that an outlet at Bondi would foul the beaches. The sewer was completed in 1889. It runs along Blair Street, originally known as Sewer Road. We dare say the residents had a say in that name change. The venting tower dates back to 1910.

For most of the 20th century, Bondi was a smelly place. The wrong winds would deposit raw sewage on the beach. The so called “Bondi Cigar” was most definitely not for smoking, and the local “Brown Mullet” was similarly not for eating. This hazard was a fact of beach life back in the 70s and 80s. Surf events were regularly cancelled and Hepatitis B shots were de rigueur.

It all changed in part thanks to people power. The “Turn Back the Tide” concert on Bondi Beach in 1989 attracted 100,000+ and protested the sewage outfall. Remo was living here then. Check out a video of the event HERE:

In 1991 a radical upgrade of the facility was kicked off via the development of the deep-water ocean outfall. Sewage was pumped out of sight and out of mind … along with all of those Bondi cigars. These days (thankfully) the water is very clean.

The North Bondi sewage system today serves 500,000 residents from Bondi to Rozelle, as well as all of Sydney’s central business district. These days methane gas from the plant is not vented or burned off by the tower, but is rather being converted into green energy, and put back into the grid. Phew!