Old Sydney Town: residential development key part of new concept
Community feedback sessions on new plans for the Old Sydney Town site are on this Saturday, but the son of the founder of the theme park says people need to ask a lot of questions. Here’s why.
- Old Sydney Town buyer reveals visions for site
- Old Sydney Town former owner asks for land rezoning
- Council rejects millionaire Tony Denny’s $10m offer to buy park
The former Old Sydney Town site is in danger of being swamped by a small lot residential development if new concepts for the site come to fruition.
That is the view Peter Fox who is the son of Old Sydney Town theme park founder, Frank Fox.
Mr Fox urged people who attend this Saturday’s community feed back sessions on the plans to ask a lot of questions.
The new owners of the 120 hectare site at Somersby, World Culture Tourism Village, yesterday announced their vision for the site which includes a range of ideas including residential, food and bar precinct, hotels, and retail.
Their concept would also keep elements of Old Sydney Town while expanding the Australian Reptile Park.
They have scheduled a number of “community pop-up” feedback sessions on Saturday (May 11) from 9am until 12pm at Tuggerah Supa Centre and from 2pm to 5pm at Erina Fair.
A further community information and feedback session is scheduled for Saturday, May 25 from 9am to 12pm at Wyoming Community Centre.
But the devil may be in the detail according to Peter Fox who said maps showed the new owners wanted to turn up to half of the land into small lot residential and that Old Sydney Town was in danger of being lost.
“People who attend the community sessions should be asking a lot of questions. Who are the new owners? What do they intend to do with the Old Sydney Town buildings? How close would it be to what Old Sydney Town was intended to be?” Mr Fox said.
“The key word here is ‘world’ — it’s World Culture Tourism Village — it’s not Australian heritage,” he said.
Peter Fox and his brother Michael were members of an unsuccessful bid consortium who tried to buy the site last year to re-establish a theme park which celebrated Australian heritage and remained faithful to their father’s 1975 vision.
Mr Fox said it had been heart-breaking to be outbid for the land which eventually sold for more than $20 million.
“People might think it’s sour grapes because we couldn’t buy it — but we really want people to know Old Sydney Town is at risk,” he said.
He said he had met with World Culture Tourism Village consultant Hunta Property in February and presented his ideas, but it became clear the new owners “had their own vision”.
He said all he knew about the new owners was that “one lived in Pymble and one lived in Perth”.
The new owners are not the first to seek to rezone the mostly rurally zoned land for residential and industrial purposes.
Former owner, internation hotel magnate Richard Chiu, famously promised back in 2017 to rebuild Old Sydney Town if Central Coast Council rezoned 30 per cent of the land around the old theme park for residential of commercial development.
In June 2018 millionaire property developer Tony Denny raised the prospect of an adventure tourism park on the site but wanted Central Coast Council to match his $10 million investment.
Any furutre development of the site would require land rezoning by Central Coast Council.
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