Surfers have welcomed revised plans for South Newcastle beach after Newcastle council unveiled concept drawings on Friday confirming it would no longer build a skate bowl on the sand.
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The new plan shows the skate bowl sitting on the existing beach promenade as part of an $11 million state government and council overhaul of the precinct.
In January, the council abandoned plans to build a skate bowl jutting out onto the sand after pressure from surfers and coastal engineers.
South Newcastle surfer Bernie Wilson, a fierce critic of the earlier plan, gave the latest concept drawings a cautious thumbs-up.
"The lord mayor keeps saying everything is now westward of the existing seawall," he said on Friday after reviewing the plans.
"I'm happy with that, and the surfing community is happy. We're all on the same page.
"It'll also be nice to get new toilets down there after 15 years of them being closed."
Mr Wilson said he wanted to see detailed engineering plans before offering his unqualified support for the project.
The overhaul of the South Newcastle section of Bathers Way also includes a kiosk, fitness equipment, seating and shade structures.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said on Friday that the new vision for the beach was a response to feedback from the community.
"While these are concept plans only, they demonstrate that we can have a bowl suitable for intermediate skaters and accessible for wheelchair sports, without the need for it to protrude onto the beach," she said.
"These concepts allow us to work with the community, skaters, coastal engineers, environmental and geotechnical experts to determine more detailed designs for this stage of the Bathers Way project."
The community can offer feedback on the new concept design at the council's website until the end of August. Work is due to start next year.
"We're now asking the community to have their say on these concepts as we undertake formal consultation, refine the detailed designs, and ultimately start construction," Cr Nelmes said.
The council dumped the first plan for the site after a coordinated backlash involving the Surfrider Foundation Australia, Sydney University coastal geomorphologist Professor Andrew Short and veteran coastal engineer Peter Evans.
Mr Evans said in December that the project had left the coastal management profession "incredulous" at the NSW Coastal Conference in Merimbula in November.
The council said in January that 191 of 335 respondents to an online survey had opposed the project, citing the bowl's protrusion onto the beach as their main concern.