Sydney wedding venue launches last-ditch legal bid to stop skate park

The owners of a well-known Sydney function centre are taking their local council to court in a last-ditch attempt to halt construction of a children’s skate park along the Bay Run that was a decade in the making.

Le Montage in Lilyfield – which hosted Salim Mehajer’s colourful 2015 wedding – is seeking a court order to stop Inner West Council from building the skate park directly next door in Callan Park, arguing the council did not properly consider the facility’s impact on the venue’s views.

The skate park is now under construction next door to the Le Montage wedding venue in Lilyfield.Credit: Brook Mitchell

In a press release, Le Montage’s Giovannino “John” Navarra said he was primarily concerned with traffic flow and the safety of “children on an adrenalin rush” running around near licensed venues and Le Montage’s loading dock.

Navarra has also sensationally claimed to hold a “native earth claim” over the land which he says was given to him by a “personal treaty” with Lady Crown Turikatuku III, who is a local singer of Maori descent.

However, court documents obtained by the Herald show Le Montage is actually seeking injunctive relief based on allegations the council failed to take account of “the visual impact of the proposed lighting” on the function centre and its views, as well as “the visual impact of construction”.

In an affidavit, town planner Glenn Raymond – retained by Le Montage – said 10 trees to be planted on the skate park boundary were “not sufficient to form a screen to soften views of the skate plaza or prevent light spill to the function rooms on the northern end of Le Montage”.

Raymond also asserted the skate park may interfere with the way light reflects on the water during sunsets, ruining the “ambience that is provided by the waterfront situation”. Le Montage says the skate park should be built further away, past Leichhardt Oval No. 3 or near the aquatic centre.

A brochure Le Montage made about the dispute contains a full-page photograph of late anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and his quote: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

An incident occurred on the first day of the skate park’s construction, to which police were called. Navarra says he told construction workers they were trespassing and politely asked them to stop work, citing his “native earth claim”.

Police confirmed a 55-year-old man “allegedly entered the site and attempted to halt construction works” on October 19. He was given a move-on direction and was later fined for entering enclosed land without a lawful excuse.

Part of a brochure produced by Navarra Venues, owners of Le Montage, about the proposed skate park next door.

Navarra claims he and an associate were assaulted during this incident. Police said investigations into the alleged assault were ongoing.

The venue and council are due to appear in the Land and Environment Court on Friday. The legal action is a fitting final twist to a saga that has gone on for 10 years as councillors, residents and the state government fought over the skate park’s location.

Such facilities frequently prove challenging for local governments to build due to loud pockets of opposition in the community and within their own chambers. In August, the Herald reported on a proposed skate park in Rushcutters Bay that has been talked about and planned for 10 years.

Inner West mayor Darcy Byrne, who previously argued the facility would help convert Callan Park “from a dead end to a destination”, said he was confident the project had been properly approved and was in the public interest.

Le Montage as photographed in 2020.Credit: Steven Siewert

Byrne described the combination of Le Montage’s “native earth claim” and the court challenge as “quite bizarre”.

“Trying to delay or stop the skate park will be a deeply unpopular power play, but it seems there is no length that the opponents won’t go to in order to assert their sense of proprietorial ownership over this public land.”

Nathan Moran, chief executive of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, said he was not aware of the bona fides of Navarra’s “native earth claim”, nor had local elders had any dealings with Lady Crown. “I’ve never heard of any supposed treaty and or rights of the group of people that he was describing,” Moran said.

Asked about the discrepancy between his publicly stated safety concerns and the grounds for relief listed in the court summons, Navarra said he had commissioned an independent traffic study of the area to underline his concerns about children’s safety. “That’s my next claim to go in,” he said.

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