Royal Far West, Manly Beach: $107 million revamp gets planning approval
An eight-storey apartment block at an iconic beach is part of a $107 million redevelopment of a historic Sydney site.
Manly
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A $107 million redevelopment of an iconic Sydney beachfront organisation has been given the go-ahead.
Royal Far West — a health charity for children from rural NSW — can demolish part of its campus and build eight and five storey apartment blocks across the road from Manly Beach.
Most of the 58 units will be offered to the public on 99-year leaseholds to help fund the ongoing operations of the charity, which has been helping country kids with health and developmental problems for close to 100 years.
As part of what is has called “RFW Neighbourhood” — first mooted in 2013 — the not-for-profit Royal Far West will also provide space for shops, cafes and offices.
There will also be a large public outdoor plaza near the corner of Wentworth St and South Steyne in the heart of the seaside suburb.
Heritage-listed Drummond House, on Wentworth St, will be upgraded and accommodate visiting RFW clients and children and continue to “serve as quality guesthouse accommodation in Manly”.
Plans, originally drawn up in 2013, included a 165-room hotel but they were dropped in favour of increasing the number of apartments to 58.
The development application has now received approval from the NSW Government’s State North Planning Panel.
Royal Far West confirmed it was not selling any portion of the site, but the red-brick buildings at the front of the complex would be bulldozed.
The five-storey apartment block will front the southern end of Manly with an eight-storey building, with five levels of apartments and three floor of commercial/retail space, behind it.
Royal Far West said its architects, including award-winning architect Glenn Murcutt, who grew up in Manly, had fine tuned the latest plans.
Candy Bingham, a Manly Ward councillor with Northern Beaches Council, said she supported Royal Far West for coming up with a redevelopment including the provision of more apartment accommodation in Manly.
“They’ve taken a long time and spent a lot of money to get it right,” Ms Bingham said.
“I believe they’ve got a really good outcome here.
“We need more accommodation, and really nice apartments.
“It will provide a real uplift for that end of Manly.”
In a statement released on Tuesday, Royal Far West said that the RFW Neighbourhood was a “careful yet brave reimagining of a precious place in Manly and a vitally important service provider to children from the country”.
Royal Far West CEO Jacqueline Emery said earlier this year that the redevelopment would “make a profound difference in Manly and to future generations of rural children and families across the country”.
“With our feet in the sand and our hearts in the bush, this place will bring to bear the timeless vision of our founders, Reverend Stanley Drummond and Dr George Moncrieff Barron, who established RFW’s base on the beachfront in 1924,” Ms Emery said.
In its written decision, the Panel stated that the plan was generally consistent with the concept approval granted by the Planning Assessment Commission back in 2013.
“The Panel concurs with council that the proposal will deliver a quality design consistent with the terms and overall vision of the concept approval and it should not result in unreasonable impacts on adjoining properties or the natural environment,” the decision read.
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