Freshwater Surf Life Saving Club: Opposition ramps up to proposed restaurant as part of $10m makeover
Opposition is growing against a push to include a restaurant as part of a proposed $10m refurb of a historic Sydney surf club. See the plans.
Manly
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A push for a massive cafe as part of the $10 million upgrade of the historic Freshwater Surf Life Saving Club is facing growing community opposition – as the eatery restaurant is described as “repulsive commercialisation” by its staunchest critic.
The 115-year-old club has applied to include the eatery as part of a revamp of its 88-year-old clubhouse, owned by Northern Beaches Council.
Along with new public changerooms and upgraded facilities and storage for club members, the club included designs for the eatery in the DA.
It would be part of the a new extension at the rear of the original clubhouse, if the current 40-year-old extension was allowed to be demolished.
A “Statement of Environmental Effects” lodged with the DA, stated that the “restaurant will host a maximum of 163 people and will operate during breakfast, lunch and dinner hours”.
But club president Michael Bate said the proposed eatery should not be described as a restaurant.
“It’s unfortunate that the word restaurant was used,” Mr Bate said. “It would be an all day dining cafe.”
He said a cafe already exists on the north west corner off the building.
“That cafe that’s there at the moment will became an all day dining cafe, across the back of the building to activate the park.”
Mr Bates said the idea was to have a “hole-in-the-wall” cafe for takeaways and a ground floor facility where patrons could sit down to dine on the edge of the park.
“And it will probably go into the evening”.
Mr Bate said a final decision on the number of seats had yet to be made.
The northern beaches’ branch of the coastal community lobby group, Surfrider Foundation Australia, attacked the restaurant bid, describing it as “money-grubbing commercialisation of the coast”.
Branch president Brendan Donohue told the Manly Daily that public money was being spent “developing ideas that no-one really wants or needs”.
In a submission to the council, Mr Donohoe wrote that surf life saving clubs had “highly prized” places on the coast for the “purpose of providing life saving activities”.
“These activities do not include raising money for council through commercial leases;
providing fine dining experiences with an ocean view for the paying public, and serving alcohol to paying customers as a core business.”
Mr Donohue wrote that planning commercial premises at the surf club would be regarded by many as a “repulsive commercialisation of public space”.
Late last year a 90-seat restaurant, The Basin Dining Room, operated by a private business, opened in the refurbished Mona Surf Club along with a cafe seating 70 patrons, downstairs.
As well as the eatery there were plans for a new multipurpose hall that included a small surfing and surf life saving museum.
The DA, now before the state government’s Sydney North Planning Panel.
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