Dee Why, Fisher Rd: 51-room boarding house allowed as part of $16m church redevelopment
Part of the Dee Why town centre will be transformed by a 51-room boarding house as part of a $16m church redevelopment. See the pictures
Manly
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A 51-room boarding house on the northern beaches, included as part of a $16 million church redevelopment, has been given the go-ahead by planning authorities.
The New Life Baptist Church will build the four-storey accommodation block — to house 102 boarders — behind a new church to be located in the Dee Why town centre.
Plans, approved by the State North Planning Panel, show the redevelopment on Fisher Rd will include a combined conference centre and multi-purpose community facility as well as a cafe in a separate six-storey building containing the new church.
The old church, on land bought by the Baptist Church about 100 yeas ago, will be demolished. An existing car park at the rear of the property, which enters into Francis St, will become the site of the boarding house.
On its website, the New Life Baptist Church said it wanted to “increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing options available in Dee Why, and in the wider Northern Beaches Local Government Area”.
It said the providing this type of accommodation was “consistent with the goals of the church”.
“The Baptist Church is seeking to better-use its existing site resources and to extend the care and community supports that it offers in Dee Why.
“The church proposes to develop a range of Social Housing Accommodation as boarding house units targeted for use by a variety of persons.
“This is allied with their mission and is consistent with their social stance to help those in need — as there is a dire need for community crisis care centres and accommodation of this type on the northern beaches.”
The church originally wanted to provide 80 boarding rooms.
During the public exhibition of the DA, Northern Beaches Council wrote to 460 neighbouring residences and businesses about the development. It received 15 submissions objecting
to the application and four in support.
In its assessment report, the council said that objections included concerns about the proportions of the boarding house building and the extent of overshadowing. Others were worried about the impacts during the construction phases and the future operation of the church.
“The proposal is in the public interest as it provides for a significant volume of genuine affordable housing within a well located town-centre,” the council report found.
Local Lyn Saunderson wrote in her submission that her privacy would be impinged by the new buildings and that the height and size of the development would block the “benefit of cool breezes”.
“I am not against the church upgrading, but certainly not to this extent.”
Naina Gupta was concerned about the number of people living at the boarding house.
“My concern is that any extra people being squeezed into boarding premises will impact the
serenity of the area in which even now seems to be overflowing with businesses pushing out
residents.”
Marissa Floyd, who runs a business in Fisher Rd, wrote that there was a lack of
parking for a “development of this size”.
“The amount of extra traffic this will bring to Fisher Rd will be ridiculous.”
The church leaders have been contacted for comment.
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