Middle Head: Sydney Harbour Trust unveils fresh plans for site
Education facilities and food outlets are set to transform historic structures at Middle Head after a series of legal challenges and failed development proposals for the site.
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The long-running saga over the future of historic buildings at Middle Head has taken a new turn with plans unveiled to demolish sections of the site and turn 80-year-old structures into educational facilities and food outlets.
The Harbour Trust has released a $10 million proposal to revamp the Terminal 10 site on Middle Head Rd in a move designed to improve public amenity, attract tourists and bring the site into the 21st century.
The proposal includes knocking down three double-storey timber barracks buildings overlooking Middle Harbour to make way for a new park.
There would also be new walking tracks connecting to the Bondi to Manly route and restoring buildings for uses including educational facilities, exhibition spaces and food and drink outlets.
The move comes after plans to turn the site into an aged care home were met with staunch opposition from residents in 2015, sparking a legal challenge in the Federal Court and criticism from commentators including former 2GB host Alan Jones.
In more recent times, there have also been plans to turn the site into a veterans support centre and a hotel, however a review by the Harbour Trust this month ruled out accommodation uses on the site.
The trust, which took over the management of the site in 2001, however, said “small commercial” tenancies are being considered in “discrete spaces” at Terminal 10 to generate ongoing income for the restoration of the site.
The proposal has been met with a mixed response from the community-based Headland Preservation Group amid concerns over the demolition of the barracks.
Group president Jill L’Estrange welcomed the backdown on a hotel, but called on the trust to carry out detailed surveys of the barracks before any decision is made to bulldoze the site.
The group is also lobbying for the construction of a heritage interpretation centre at the site to reflect the Indigenous, military and environmental significance of the area.
“It’s been 20 years since the trust took over and since then it’s fallen into neglect. The community feels something must be done,” she said.
“An interpretation centre would be a living history and geography book for students and it would be wonderful for tourism – if we don’t do this now it will be lost forever.
“(The site) has housed the School of Engineering, the School of Military Intelligence, ASIO, Vietnam Officers and the Women’s Army Corps have trained there – it has an incredible historical background and those stories need to be told.”
The plans stated external heritage features of buildings would be retained, with contamination also removed before buildings are brought up to modern standards.
The authority said it would also work with the National Parks and Wildlife Service to create a “digital interpretation strategy” focusing on the “key themes and stories of Middle Head”.
Funding for the restoration of the site has been pledged by the Federal Government, with State Environment Minister Sussan Ley due to visit the site to discuss the proposal with residents this week.
The Harbour Trust said community consultation would open later this year before construction works begin in late 2021.