The $10m pub plans causing uproar for being too ‘Sydney-looking’

Plans by a pub group for a $10 million redevelopment of the Berry Hotel have divided the historic town, with residents in uproar over the “Sydney-looking” plans.

A NSW court has rejected a development application from hospitality group Feros, which also owns Huxley’s in Caringbah and the Engadine Tavern, finding the plans would adversely affect the heritage aspects of the existing pub, and plans for a new accommodation block were not maintaining the heritage nature of Berry.

The Berry Hotel underwent extensive renovations and alterations in 1991.Credit: Google

Heaving with weekend tourists and a favourite for weddings, Berry needs more accommodation, locals say. But hundreds of residents wrote to Shoalhaven Council to protest against the plans to add more hotel rooms.

“They are not in Cronulla, Byron Bay, Terrigal or any of those greedy-development-at-all-costs councils, but in historic Berry. A development of the size proposed will change the attractive village appeal of Berry forever,” one submission said.

The plans submitted by Feros Group would consolidate four blocks of land, including by demolishing a home, to allow for an extension of the Berry Hotel with a new outdoor dining pavilion and a hotel construction at the rear of the pub.

The hotel would comprise 31 rooms over two storeys and an underground car park, while multiple internal walls would be knocked down inside the existing pub to make way for a sports bar.

The original plans for the new hotel included three storeys and a rooftop pool, however, these were removed in a modified version of the proposal after community backlash.

Those against it say they welcome a freshening up of the pub, but say these plans went too far. One resident even wrote a letter to Justin Hemmes, asking him if Merivale would instead buy the pub.

“In a street where there are just individual little dwellings, old cottages and the church, they just slammed in this [accommodation] block which would be typical of the middle of Sydney,” Berry Forum secretary Stuart Coughlan said.

“So they’ve just completely ignored the historic character of the town … and it would bring in a lot of people who want to drink a lot, gamble and leave at 2am.”

Coughlan believes the majority of the town is with him – and Shoalhaven Council backed his view. The council submitted evidence to the Land and Environment Court that the proposed additions and alterations to the pub would adversely impact its historic value.

Others in town, particularly small businesses that rely on tourism, welcomed the potential increase in accommodation.

Holly Hankin, a school teacher who also works with the Berry Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, said she was frustrated by locals opposing the development for heritage reasons.

“The redevelopment will provide the accommodation that the town needs, which will bring more people into town and they will spend more money, and it will provide more for our economy,” she said.

“Those people come from a place of wanting everything to look like it’s still in the 1800s … it moves [Berry] into the next century.”

The pub occupies the site of the Kangaroo Inn, built in 1863. That pub became the Commercial Hotel in 1888, with a brick build and veranda.

It became the Berry Hotel in 1924 and remained virtually untouched until extensive restoration and alterations in 1991, according to the Berry Museum.

Ultimately the court agreed with the council and the hundreds of residents who made submissions to the DA, and the bid was rejected. Commissioner Susan O’Neill found the proposed alterations and additions to the original building would have an “adverse impact” on the hotel, and the proposed accommodation building was not compatible with the “historic residential character” of Princess Street.

Local MP Gareth Ward said, “While I don’t oppose improvements to hotel, this application fell short of standards and expectations of appropriate development in Berry.”

Feros Group chief executive Simon Johnston said they would draw up new plans and start the process again.

“We are obviously very disappointed with the outcome. Having said that, we are committed to designing and executing on a renovation of the venue. We love the locality and are passionate about a long-term improvement of the site,” he said.

“We will listen to all of the feedback from council, the community and the commissioner and have already begun work on a new scheme that we will take to council and the community for feedback prior to relodging a formal application.”

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