Protest over approving tender for District Park in Manly Vale
IT’S the controversial, back-and-forth issue for management of one of the northern beaches’ most sought after parcels of land — and now there is an added twist over the future of District Park.
Manly
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A MOVE has begun to halt negotiations with Arena REIT to lease District Park and allow a consortium led by Warringah Golf Club to enter the fray.
A rescission motion to be put at Tuesday’s council meeting would cancel negotiations for a new clubhouse and management of the site with the ASX 300 listed Arena and ClubLinks.
If successful, Liberal Cr Stuart Sprott said it would allow the council to also negotiate with the second preferred tenderer — the golf club and Tennis Australia.
The 62ha site in Manly Vale is between Condamine St and Pittwater Rd. It includes North Manly Bowling Club, Warringah’s 18-hole golf course, a recreation centre, rugby league and futsal facilities.
The bowling club — which had merged with Manly Leagues Club — is set to close as a result of a failed bid to win the tender.
Cr Sprott said the council has “nothing to lose and the community has everything to gain from negotiating a better deal with the top two tenderers”.
“I have read both tenders and they’re pretty close,” he said.
“It might not be the best, but it is so close that with negotiation it could actually be a better tender than the other one. We don’t know because they haven’t been given the option to negotiate.”
Arena proposes innovative use of the spaces with upgrades for all existing sport users, including 18-hole golf, enhanced additional facilities like as a cafe, mini golf, allied health centre and over 300 car spaces.
The tender also includes a proposal for state-of-the-art technology such as indoor golf simulators.
Mayor Michael Regan criticised the plans as “irresponsible” and argued it “potentially creates a conflict of interest”.
“The golf club — if the negotiations fail with the top tender is the next tender,” he said.
He said the areas were already privatised by registered clubs — and all tenders received would have privatised the land — this was just bringing them under one umbrella.
“They are all registered clubs, all commercial entities,” he said. “Tender number one was the only one without poker machines, tender two and three had a business model on poker machines.”
It comes as a protest group has entered the fray, collecting almost 4000 signatures calling for the council to “cancel this flawed tender process and open up public dialogue about any changes”.
The Group, called Save District Park, is headed by Matt Ingersole and Cade Jenkins.
Mr Jenkins said they held concerns about the nature of the preferred tenderer.
“Our objection is about the privatisation of this land, which going to a consortium listed on the stock exchange based in Victoria,” he said.
“Why would we want as a community to hand over a parcel of land like this for cheap rent on prime land for 30 years.”
He also argued that the community feel would be lost with the closure of the bowling club, and no guarantee of a social club to replace it.
Mr Ingersole urged the council to rethink saying once the land was leased, it would have huge impacts.
“The impact has been the closure of this club in the short term, in long term who knows what the long term impacts will be, that is our primary concern,” he said.
“The community is saying loud and clear ‘stop what you are doing’, we do not want this community space to go into private hands, it is plain and simple.”
He said suggestions that the area could become like Moore Park were not comforting.
“I know they are saying it will be like Moore Park, we don’t want that,” he said.
“This is not the eastern suburbs this is the northern beaches. What makes it special is the amount of green space and community land that we have.”
The council’s acting CEO, Ben Taylor, said the bowlers had been offered peppercorn rent if they can maintain the greens at their club.
“To be very clear, Council’s plans are to enhance the District Park precinct and deliver a fantastic new community recreation and sporting hub for everyone to enjoy,” he said.
“We are not selling any assets to private enterprise through this process and no residential development is permitted on the site.
“This project expects to deliver a significant capital investment and renewal of recreation facilities to the precinct.”
