By ANNA USHER

Cremorne Point residents will be posted wristbands so they can move around their own peninsula this New Year’s Eve, under a lockdown plan going to North Sydney Council on Monday night.

The suburb stays free to enter, but for the first time it will be fenced at entry points, bag-checked, patrolled and then capped, after an estimated 11,000 people crowded into the area last New Year’s Eve.

Council staff say that number is well beyond what the area can safely hold.

Twenty one incidents were recorded in 2025, several involving intoxication, and staff reported people climbing onto cliff ledges during the evening.

NSW Police, Ambulance NSW and Council’s own security contractors have all flagged the site as needing tighter control.

The report calls the location “one of the highest-risk locations across vantage points” and says emergency crews are hemmed in by the shape of the peninsula, with few ways in and almost no room for vehicles.

What changes on Cremorne Point

This year, Cremorne Point is set to move from a “low service” site to a fully managed one. If Councillors agree, 31 December will mean:

• Fenced pedestrian checkpoints with security and bag checks at the Milson Road and Murdoch Street intersection, at Iredale Avenue, and on the foreshore paths
• A capacity limit, with a site manager closing the point once it fills.
• Limits on how much alcohol anyone can carry in. A full ban was considered and judged too hard to enforce.
• Roads shut to non-residents from 10am, and to all traffic from 5pm.
• Rideshare and taxis stopped at a Murdoch Street checkpoint, with a drop-off zone before it.
• Ferries running to Cremorne Point Wharf until it reaches capacity, then exit only.
• Extra toilets, two water stations, lighting towers, a CCTV tower and first aid.

The reserve will not be fenced all the way around. Council says the geography makes it impossible, so signs and roaming staff will do most of the work.

Council is also looking at moving the bus stop near the Bannerman Street and Murdoch Street roundabout, which would need Transport for NSW to agree.

What it means if you live there

About 250 people in 115 homes south of Hodgson Avenue will get wristbands in the post or hand delivered before the night, along with wristbands for their guests.

Resident cars keep access through the Murdoch Street control point between 10am and 5pm, using a driver’s licence as proof.

Council says residents will not be shut out of any part of the managed area.

Who pays for it

Managing Cremorne Point on December 31 costs $174,000, and that amount comes from ticket holders across the harbour.

This year, New Year’s Eve ticketing in North Sydney LGA will be expanded to include Lower Bradfield Park, with prices increasing 30 per cent, from $50 to $65 per head.

Free NYE viewing will continue at Waverton and Kurraba Point, with accessible viewing at Milsons Point.

The matter will be voted on at Council Chambers, next Monday 27 July.