Hospitality operator the Boathouse Group, which has a stable of hotels and restaurants stretching from Patonga to Rose Bay, will cease to operate Moby Dicks Whale Beach in December as the latest complaint on Sydney’s northern beaches casts a cloud over the venue’s nearly 30-year history of hosting weddings.

“Northern Beaches Council wrote to our tenant at Moby’s, The Boathouse Group, that they had received a complaint it was operating a function centre on the premises unlawfully,” says Jon Pratten, a life member and committee member at the Whale Beach Surf Life Saving Club, which relies on the Moby’s site for income.

When Boathouse Group departs Moby’s this summer as operator, the adjacent surf club will lose two-thirds of its revenue. The volunteer-led club uses that financial support to patrol the beaches.

It’s the latest in a growing salvo of grievances in the area. In March, the Herald revealed that complaints from a handful of residents saw an application to extend dinner trade at rebuilt Sydney landmark The Joey rejected by Northern Beaches Council.

At Moby’s, the complaint to the council objected to the venue operating as a function centre rather than a restaurant. Despite the Boathouse Group operating Moby Dicks as a wedding venue for 15 years, the venue wasn’t approved to be a function centre.

Boathouse Group chief executive Antony Jones says Moby’s only has council consent to be a restaurant but can host occasional events. “Under Boathouse operations, Moby’s has only ever operated as a wedding and event centre without any issue ... until now,” he says.

“It’s a terrible loss for the community,” Pratten says of Boathouse Group’s departure. Despite its legion of volunteers, the club relies on the income for overheads such as vehicles, inflatable craft and outboard engines.

The Boathouse Group, which includes waterfront hospitality venues Manly Pavilion and Barrenjoey House Palm Beach, was in the process of renewing the lease before the clamp-down on functions.

Jones explains the Whale Beach site isn’t viable as a standalone restaurant. “It’s a tragedy and a shame for the community,” he says.

Jones has decided to divert resources to Beach Road, Palm Beach, where Boathouse Group previously operated a homewares store. That site has had its own issues; when Cranky Fins closed there in 2015, its owner Andy Ruwald told the Herald: “The option to renew our lease came up, but due to a neighbour complaining to the authorities about us, we decided not to proceed.”

Currently undergoing an internal refit, The Boathouse Palm Beach will open at Beach Road on Friday, November 1, with a menu from chef Mark LaBrooy.

Moby Dicks will honour its functions booked through to December. After that, its future is undetermined. Pratten says the club has engaged a consultant and is working with the council in the hope of finding a solution that would make the site attractive to a potential new tenant. “The club really depends on that income,” he says. “It helps keep our head above water.”