BCF Belrose: Future of popular outdoor leisure goods outlet is unclear
Customers of a popular leisure and lifestyle store on the northern beaches are set to miss out on more ‘BCFing fun’.
Manly
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The future of a popular outdoors leisure and lifestyle goods store on the northern beaches is cloudy after a decision by local planning authorities.
A development application to allow a new childcare centre and a medical clinic to move into a retail building at Belrose housing a BCF (Boating, Camping, Fishin) outlet, has been successful.
Now BCF, famous for its catchy “BCFing fun” TV advertisement jingle, look set to be pushed out of the premises at 1 Niangala Cl.
The building is an annex of the nearby massive Home Co shopping centre, popular with northern beaches residents for its homewares, carpet and furniture retailers.
A golf store, Golf Stich, moved out of the building about a year ago.
The other remaining tenant is Beds N Dreams, a bed and mattress retail chain store, which is understood to be moving into the main Home Co centre later this year.
There are no other BCF outlets on the northern beaches. An outlet at Manly Vale closed several years ago. There is a store at Chatswood.
Super Retail Group, which owns the BCF chain of stores, as well as Rebel Sports, Supercheap Auto and MACPAC, has been contacted for comment about whether another BCF outlet will be opened on the northern beaches.
Owners of the property, Equity Trustees Limited, lodged a DA with Northern Beaches Council for consent to alter and make additions to the building, including use as a childcare centre on level 2 and a medical centre on the first floor.
The application was referred to the Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel (NBLPP) because the DA sought an increase in the height of the building, above local planning rules, to allow for skylights to be installed.
An original plan for the centre to have capacity for 108 children, aged from 0-6 years old, has been pared back to 84 places. There will also be 17 new parking spaces added, making a total of 59 in the building.
The childcare proposes to operate from 7am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, 52 weeks a year, but close or public holidays.
At the medical centre, services including preventive care, diagnosis, medical or surgical treatment, counselling or alternative therapies) to outpatients only will be offered.
It will operate from 7am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, according to DA documents. There will be no facility overnight stays.