Berrima Gaol sold for $7 million to ‘football whisperer’ developer

Western Sydney property developer and owner of a sports management company Joe Wehbe has bought the historic Southern Highlands landmark Berrima Gaol for $7 million.

In his announcement of the sale, NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts said the site was to be turned into a “unique hotel and entertainment precinct” by Wehbe’s Blue Sox Developments.

The historic Berrima Gaol has been sold by the state government for $7 million.Credit:

“The proposal incorporates a boutique hotel whilst retaining the beautiful grounds of the estate, and will include cafe, restaurant, bar, community and event areas, and spaces which will cater for small business opportunities such as antique and bookshops, personal services, art galleries, library and museum,” Roberts said.

The decision has been slammed by the Berrima Residents Association and local investors for not considering the interests of the community, and comes just six months after the association launched an online petition calling for a halt to the sale process amid concerns it would be turned “into a big hospitality venue”.

“We’ve been sold down the river and community interests have been sidelined in this, and we won’t forget in the state election coming up next year,” said Eric Savage, president of the Berrima Residents Association.

“We had developed a vision for the site with input from the Southern Highlands Chamber of Commerce for a vibrant creative precinct with an arts hub, farmer’s market, an 80- to 100-seat theatre and venue, and all of which respected both the gaol and Aboriginal history to the site,” said Savage, who was recently named Wingecarribee Citizen of the Year for 2022.

The historic correctional facility is set on 1.9 hectares in Berrima.

“But once we had submitted an offer in the expressions of interest campaign, we were not even asked to elaborate on that for the tender process that followed,” Savage said.

“The government clearly have no interest in engaging with the community on this site.”

Local cattle farmer Theo Onisforou added his objection to the sale after he was informed he was in the running with his proposal to build Paddington-style, low-rise townhouses on the 1.9 hectare site.

“I would have paid a lot more than $7 million if I hadn’t had to gift the gaol to the local community as part of my offer,” Onisforou said.

Berrima Gaol was built in the 1830s by convicts in irons and opened in 1839. It was where John Lynch – one of Australia’s first serial killers and known as the Berrima axe murderer – was hanged in 1842.

It developed a reputation as one of the state’s most punitive jails in an 1887 royal commission in which it was revealed prisoners had been left in dark, solitary cells for prolonged periods and gagged on occasions.

During World War I it was used as an internment camp for German prisoners and was rebuilt in the 1940s, again using prison labour.

In 2001, it was renamed Berrima Correctional Centre as a women’s prison, and retired in 2020 given it was no longer deemed fit-for-purpose.

“The state government has a history of selling public assets, and this is just the latest after more than 180 years in public hands,” said Savage.

The Berrima Correctional Facility was retired in 2020.Credit: Dallas Kilponen

Wehbe’s Blue Sox Group is a mixed-use property development group with projects primarily based in western Sydney, including in Pendle Hill, Wentworthville and Jordan Springs, as well as a Rozelle development.

Wehbe is also known as the “football whisperer” owner of sports management company Ignite Sports, headed by Anthony Field and Jonathan Wehbe, and oversees the careers of NRL stars like Daly Cherry-Evans, Nathan Brown and James Tedesco.