Family reacts to Royal Oak Hotel Parramatta’s unnecessary demolition for light rail

Descendants of a historic Parramatta pub’s original owner have revealed their family’s reaction after they learned the landmark was unnecessarily bulldozed for the light rail.

Alan and Lorraine George, outside the Royal Oak Hotel in January 2020, lost a major piece of family history when the government demolished the pub. Picture: Angelo Velardo)

The ancestors of a 207-year-old Parramatta pub’s original owner have expressed their fury and bitterness following “shattering” news the landmark did not need to be demolished for the state government's controversial light rail.

Transport for NSW has deemed the site of the Royal Oak surplus land no longer needed for the $2.4bn line from Westmead to Carlingford when it opens in 2024.

Alan and Lorraine George, who were part of the fierce community campaign to save the pub, were “furious” after their pleas to the government fell on deaf ears.

Lorraine and Alan George at the Royal Oak Hotel in Parramatta in January, five months before it was demolished. Picture: Angelo Velardo

Mrs George is a sixth-generation niece of Sirius ship First Fleeter founder William Tunks, whose son John built the Royal Oak.

“Now to learn that the hotel need not have been demolished to make way for the light rail I am furious, together with the rest of the Tunks descendants,’’ she said.

“We were sad and so very, very frustrated to think that it could have been prevented.

“We’re so bitterly disappointed in the whole process and to think that it wasn’t necessary.’’

The Royal Oak was 207 years old. Picture: Angelo Velardo

Mrs George slammed the former Liberal government for having a defeatist attitude despite protests, negotiations and a years-long community campaign to save the historic watering hole.

Mrs George said the family should be compensated and the hotel rebuilt to its original beauty.

Her husband Alan said the news “really puts a nasty taste in your mouth”.

“To know it wasn’t necessary to do it and to think you had something there that was part of the Tunks family it’s nearly criminal,’’ he said.

An excavator working on the stables area at the rear of the Royal Oak Hotel. Demolition work continues on the Royal Oak Hotel in North Parramatta, to make way for the Parramatta Light Rail. Picture: John Appleyard

Fellow descendantGaye Whiteechoed the frustration.

“For the Tunks descendants – descendants of the original owners, the demolition was a disheartening experience, shattering their hopes of preserving their family’s legacy,’’ she said.

“The Royal Oak Hotel represented more than just a pub; it symbolised history, community and tradition.

“Its demolition raised concerns about preserving Australia’s cultural heritage and highlights the lack of transparency and communication surrounding such decisions.’’

Suzette Meade, the spokeswoman for North Parramatta Residents Action Group, which was at the forefront of the campaign against the pub’s demolition, said the surplus land left “the biggest footpath in Australia” and a hole in local heritage.

“You could drive two buses down that footpath,’’ Ms Meade said.

“It’s just the all too familiar pattern in Parramatta where heritage is not put at the forefront of planning and just an obstacle at the end.’’

Parramatta Lord Mayor Sameer Pandey has raised plans to create a park on the site but that is not welcome by all.

“Even though they’re talking about a park you’ve got Prince Alfred Square just down from it a bit and I can’t see that it’s going to be a park of any substance,’’ Mrs George said.

The council will write to the government about its plans for the park and plans to use the remaining Cobb Co Stables for a suitable purpose.

Phil Russo snaps some photos of the Royal Oak and its mural weeks before it was bulldozed. Picture: John Appleyard

A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said it would not compensate the family.

“The descendants of the original owner of the Royal Oak Hotel, John Tunks, were not the owners of the property at the time it was acquired by Transport for NSW,’’ a spokeswoman said.

“No compensation to other parties is being considered by Transport.’’

The spokeswoman defended the demolition of the pub, which “encroached significantly” into the road, and maintained it was necessary to provide space for the tracks, traffic lanes and pedestrian footpaths.

“Transport for NSW did explore other options during the project’s environmental impact statement to avoid or minimise impacts to the Royal Oak Hotel including alternative routes, taking land from the other side of Church St and reducing traffic lanes,’’ she said.

“In the end, other options were not feasible due to the need to acquire and demolish multiple private properties.’’

She said the pub’s licensee during the acquisition agreed to the evaluation and was compensated.