Mosman: Warringah bowling club defends expansion plans
Residents on Sydney’s north shore are rallying against plans by one of the region’s oldest bowling clubs to expand the venue with new outdoor dining and pokie machine areas. But the club says the redevelopment is vital in order to remain financially viable.
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Plans by a long-running bowling club to expand the venue with new dining and gaming areas has met a cool response from surrounding residents on Sydney’s lower north shore.
The Warringah Bowling Club has outlined a $425,000 proposal to build new outdoor facilities and increase the size of its gaming room as part of a revamp of its century-old site on Bradleys Head Rd in Mosman.
Plans show there would be an expanded gaming room with nine pokie machines along with an outdoor balcony for patrons to dine, drink and smoke cigarettes.
Club general manager Alex Sangkuhl said the proposal was aimed at opening up the venue to attract new members and would ensure the club could remain “financially viable” into the future.
“The days of club’s purely catering for men in whites playing on bowling greens are long gone,” Mr Sangkuhl told the Mosman Daily.
“We have to adapt and the idea is to open the main bar area into an inviting family-friendly area.”
But the proposed expansion has been met with a string of submissions from residents outlining objections to potential noise, crime, traffic and the smell of cigarette smoke wafting into nearby units.
John Brooks, who manages a 21-unit apartment complex backing on to the site, said concerns have also centred on the “lack of detail” in the planning documents and whether the expansion was “at odds” with the venue’s primary purpose as a bowling club.
“The bowling club has been there for over 100 years and it appears they’re changing the whole operation from a bowling club into an entertainment centre with a clubhouse and a gaming area,” he said.
“What the club doesn’t seem to recognise is that they’re in a residential area surrounded by apartment blocks and the noise reverberates through the whole area. That’s why so many people are protesting against it.
“Because the plans are so vague a lot of residents are relying on information leaking from club members just to find out what’s going on.”
Mr Sangkuhl said the proposal had been designed to minimise impacts on surrounding homes through measures including “sound diffusers” on external walls.
In a move to bankroll the project, the club – which caters for approximately 1600 members – began closing earlier in nonproductive periods to reduce staff costs as well as rolling out a cashless “ticket-in ticket-out” system for its poker machines.
Mr Sangkuhl said plans for the gaming area were aimed at separating the existing nine pokie machines to meet COVID-19 social distancing requirements.
“We’re not increasing the number of gaming machines at this stage but we’re not ruling out applying for additional (pokie machine) licences into the future,” he said.
“At this stage it’s more about creating a new dining area and we also want smokers to be at the back of the venue (as opposed to) smoking out the front where families walk in and out.”
Plans lodged to Mosman Council state the project was in the public interest as the club performs “an important role as a social hub.”
Mosman councillor Libby Moline, who sits as a director at the club, told the Daily she would “not have any contact with the proposal due to potential conflict of interest” reasons.
The club’s proposal is currently open for public feedback and is expected to be determined by the Mosman Local Planning Panel later this year.