Community & places · Waverley Council
Roosters to receive Waverley Key to the City as Bondi Beach mural backed
A carried resolution provides the club with a civic honour and calls for a temporary sea wall mural, while leaving any partnership extension and live viewing site to future reports.
Reporting from public council minutes. How this article was prepared
The Sydney Roosters will receive a Key to the City from Waverley Council, while a temporary sea wall mural at Bondi Beach is to be facilitated after the club’s 2026 NRL and NRLW premierships, according to the unconfirmed minutes of the 20 October meeting.
The resolution also records that Council installed banners through Bondi Junction, projected images onto Bondi Pavilion and assisted with street closures on Bronte Road and Spring Street for after-match celebrations. It says the Roosters’ partnership with Council has included youth football clinics, free tickets for local community groups and support for local charity causes.
Any extension of that partnership is not yet approved. Officers are to prepare a report on extending it for another two years on the same terms as the existing agreement, along with an audit of current banner-pole locations and options for expanding the infrastructure across the Waverley local government area.
The report is also to review Council’s contribution to the celebrations and outline ways to enhance them next year, including the possible provision of a live viewing site at Bondi Beach. The resolution does not commit Council to establishing that site.
The minutes do not state the mural’s cost, installation date, removal arrangements or funding source. They also do not give a timetable for the officers’ report.
The minutes record the motion as carried, with a division listing Councillors Dov Frazer, Steven Lewis, Margaret Merten, Will Nemesh, Joshua Spicer, Keri Spooner, Michelle Stephenson, Lauren Townsend and Katherine Westwood for it. Councillors Ludovico Fabiano, Paula Masselos and Dominic Wy Kanak are listed against it. A separate recognition motion was withdrawn by Cr Spooner, but the carried CM/8.5/26.10 resolution contains the Key to the City, mural and future-report provisions.
What deserves a closer look
The resolution distinguishes between approved recognition and mural activity and future reporting on the partnership, banners and celebrations.
The minutes do not state the mural's cost, timing, removal arrangements or funding source.
The vote records opposition but gives no reasons for individual councillors' votes.
Questions for follow-up reporting
When will the report on the partnership, banner infrastructure and possible live viewing site return to Council?
What will the temporary mural cost, who will fund it and how long will it remain at Bondi Beach?
Which additional banner-pole locations will officers assess?
What arrangements will apply to installing and removing the mural?
What happens next
Officers are to prepare a report on extending the Roosters partnership for another two years on the same terms as the existing agreement; the extension itself is not approved.
The report is to cover an audit of current banner-pole locations and options for expanding banner infrastructure across the local government area.
The report is to review Council's contribution to the Roosters celebrations and include a plan for further celebrations next year, including a possible live viewing site at Bondi Beach; establishing that site is not approved.
Check the record
These passages were matched to the source text. Read them in context in the original minutes.
The text calls for providing a Key to the City to the Roosters in recognition of their historic 2026 premiership wins and facilitating a temporary sea wall mural at Bondi Beach to celebrate those wins.
5. Provides a Key to the City to the Roosters in recognition of their historic 2026 premiership wins. 6. Facilitates a temporary sea wall mural at Bondi Beach to celebrate the Roosters' premiership wins.
CM/8.5/26.10 Sydney Roosters - Grand Final Premiers, decision clauses 5–6
Open original minutes ↗The text calls for officers to report to Council on extending the partnership for another two years on the existing terms, auditing banner-pole locations and considering expansion options, and reviewing and planning celebrations, including a Bondi Beach live viewing site.
4. Officers prepare a report to Council on: (a) Extending the partnership for another two years on the same terms as the existing agreement. (b) An audit of all current banner pole locations and considering options for expanding banner pole infrastructure to other locations across the local government area so that such events can be more widely celebrated. (c) A review of Council's contribution to celebrating the Roosters' win and a plan for further enhancing community celebration of Roosters' success next year, including provision of a live viewing site at Bondi Beach.
CM/8.5/26.10 Sydney Roosters - Grand Final Premiers, decision clause 4
Open original minutes ↗The text notes that Council installed banners through Bondi Junction, projected images onto Bondi Pavilion and assisted with street closures on Bronte Road and Spring Street for after-match celebrations.
2. Notes that Council installed banners through Bondi Junction, projected images onto the Bondi Pavilion and assisted with the street closures of Bronte Road and Spring Street for after-match celebrations.
CM/8.5/26.10 Sydney Roosters - Grand Final Premiers, decision clause 2
Open original minutes ↗The text notes that the Roosters' partnership with Council has included youth community football clinics, free match tickets for local community groups and support for local charity causes.
3. Notes the successful community partnership between the Roosters and Council, which has included youth community football clinics, free match tickets for local community groups and Roosters support for important local charity causes.
CM/8.5/26.10 Sydney Roosters - Grand Final Premiers, decision clause 3
Open original minutes ↗The motion was put and declared carried.
(d) A review of Council's contribution to celebrating the Roosters' win and a plan for further enhancing community celebration of Roosters' success next year, including provision of a live viewing site at Bondi Beach.' THE MOTION WAS THEN PUT AND DECLARED CARRIED.
CM/8.5/26.10 Sydney Roosters - Grand Final Premiers, motion outcome
Open original minutes ↗The division lists nine councillors for the motion and three against it.
7. Writes to Roosters Chairman Nick Politis AM and CEO Joe Kelly informing them of this resolution. Division For the Motion: Crs Frazer, Lewis, Merten, Nemesh, Spicer, Spooner, Stephenson, Townsend and Westwood. Against the Motion: Crs Fabiano, Masselos and Wy Kanak. CM/8.6/26.10 Sydney Roosters - Recognition (A03/0416) MOTION (WITHDRAWN BY CR SPOONER) That Council: 1. Congratulates the Roosters NRL and NRLW teams on being 2026 Premiers.
CM/8.5/26.10 Sydney Roosters - Grand Final Premiers, division
Open original minutes ↗A Sydney Roosters recognition motion was withdrawn by Cr Spooner.
Against the Motion: Crs Fabiano, Masselos and Wy Kanak. CM/8.6/26.10 Sydney Roosters - Recognition (A03/0416) MOTION (WITHDRAWN BY CR SPOONER) That Council: 1. Congratulates the Roosters NRL and NRLW teams on being 2026 Premiers.
CM/8.6/26.10 Sydney Roosters - Recognition, motion status
Open original minutes ↗The text calls for congratulating the Roosters for being NRL and NRLW premiers.
DECISION Minutes of Council Meeting 20 October 2026 This is page 26 of the minutes of the Council meeting held on 20 October 2026 That Council: 1. Congratulates the Roosters for being NRL and NRLW premiers and winning their respective seasons.
CM/8.5/26.10 Sydney Roosters - Grand Final Premiers, decision clause 1
Open original minutes ↗Source record
Reporting from the unconfirmed public minutes of Waverley Council’s Council meeting held on 20 October 2026.
Key facts from the minutes
- Council’s recorded resolution provides a Key to the City to the Roosters for their 2026 premiership wins.
- Council is to facilitate a temporary sea wall mural at Bondi Beach.
- Officers must report on a possible two-year partnership extension, banner infrastructure and enhanced celebrations, including a possible Bondi Beach live viewing site.
- The minutes record the resolution as carried, with nine councillors listed for it and three against it.
- The minutes do not state the mural’s cost, installation timing or removal timing.
- The supplied minutes are treated as unconfirmed.
Why it matters
- Residents and businesses in Bondi Beach, Bondi Junction and other parts of the Waverley local government area may see further Roosters-related installations or events, but the mural’s practical details and whether the partnership will be extended are not stated in the minutes.