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Redevelopment of Royal Far West on Landmark Site

1/6/2012

What's happening with the Far West Children's site? Checking the Department of Planning’s website today, there is still the notice “Proponent Reviewing Submissions”. It is now seven months since the close of submissions. Why is it taking so long?

** PUBLIC MEETING TO BE HELD ON MONDAY 28 November 12 at the Manly Community Centre, Wentworth Street. 6pm - 7.30pm. Come along and express your views.

BREAKING NEWS: 16/11/11
At the Council meeting on 14th November, Councillor Hugh Burns raised the interesting matter that the Far West Plan is proposing to convert existing Department of Education facilities for commercial purposes even though the Manly Village Public School nearby is crying out for more playground area and classrooms. It has been reported that the Village School currently has an extensive waiting list and is squeezed for space for existing students.

Should the Department be part of a scheme to profit from this valuable parcel of land or should the redevelopment proposal be reviewed with the view to adding extended public school facilities which could also be accessed by clients of the Far West?

UPDATE: In response to community concerns, the Department of Planning has extended the deadline for submissions until November 30, 2011

UPDATE: 27/10/11... It is a concern that the community has only just become aware of the importance, impact and various issues, the new development proposal will have on Manly.

Given this, it would be reasonable for The Department of Planning to extend its current November 4 deadline for submissions, particularly as it's not until November 2 that the Far West is having an open day for the community on these proposals.

Stated to be the largest construction project ever seen in Manly, the redevelopment of the Royal Far West site on South Steyne and Wentworth Street, if done right, offers some exciting opportunities for the revitalisation of this important part of Manly's beachfront.

The revised concept includes four buildings of up to nine stories incorporating 22,000 sqm of health, residential and commercial development. The proposal also includes a hotel complex of up to 164 rooms and a further 32 residential units.

(After concerns were raised about more intensive development of the site the Council recently completed a masterplan for the property which allowed for construction of up to six storeys on the beachfront and eight storeys in the middle of the block)

The proposal is the only project remaining on the northern beaches that will be considered under the State Government’s controversial Part 3A planning laws. The Planning Assessment Commission is expected to make the final determination on the plans which are on public exhibition until 4th November both at the Planning Department's information centre, or Manly Council Chambers. Documents can also be viewed under major projects a the Department's Website.

The incorporation of a hotel on the site would seem a good idea and would provide much needed additional quality accommodation in the area for international tourists.

What are you thoughts on the Plan?

11 Comments

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Peter

8/10/2011 09:21:43 am

I have a few serious problems with the considerations given to amongst other things - traffic flow and parking provision for the Royal Far West mega complex.

Increase in traffic

I was confused when I read down past the apparently uncritical, in fact supportive, Good for Manly coverage of the RFW proposal and got to the apparent ire at the thought of increased traffic in Raglan St which would result from a proposed car park. Raglan Street is described as “narrow Raglan Street “. If Raglan is narrow in that area, then Wentworth is a lane adjacent to the RFW development's single vehicle access point.
At the corner of Wentworth and South Steyne Streets, with frequently bumper to bumper beach front traffic and one of the very rare pedestrian crossings from the beach, plus another crossing across the neck of this T intersection – there is constant delay, confusion and lack of vehicle and pedestrian safety. This intersection however doesn't get a mention despite the report by - TRAFFIX traffic and transport planners - considering: “Darley Road and Wentworth Street, East Esplanade and Wentworth Street; East Esplanade and Belgrave Street; and Sydney Road and Belgrave Street/Pittwater Road.”) on behalf of Royal Far West.
Just down Wentworth from this intersection we are told in the same concept plan application that there will be from the single vehicle entry/exit to this large development an additional “121 trips (66 in, 55 out) during the afternoon peak (5-6pm)”. That means a vehicle crossing the footpath and entering the Wentworth snarl every 30 seconds. Add to this the existing Exit from the Council carpark opposite this single access point and you have a recipe for endless drama of vehicles queued along both the South Steyne beach front and down Wentworth and across Darley and beach or school going pedestrians manoeuvring between vehicles.

On-site Car Parking provisions inadequate and justified with a laughable argument.

“Minimal levels of on-site car parking for the proposed development having regard to the high public transport accessibility of the site, opportunities for car sharing, local planning controls and RTA guidelines”.

This statement in the TRAFFIX report is as absurd as those made by those supporting the three restaurants on top of Manly Wharf where it was laughably suggested that patrons of these restaurants would arrive in and leave Manly by public transport!! Just like the patrons of The Garfish or The Pavilion heading home by bus at the end of the night -- I guess??

My comments are getting too lengthy for this vehicle. I have been away from Manly for 6 months and so may have missed a lot of discussion? I do believe at the moment however that the usually sharp eye of the Little Manly Precinct that I have always admired is inexplicably blind. I look forward to some dialogue.

Dear Reader : Emphasis/clarity via for example underlining, italics etc do not appear to be possible when writing a comment. I apologise for any confusion this may have caused.

8/10/2011 10:21:12 am

Pardon me I'm back...I just thought of the dishonesty of the documentation that accompanies this type of application. Any traffic study undertaken now and not taking into account the fact that the other T intersection at the other/western end of Wentworth St will be clogged by the traffic entering and leaving (between the horn blasts and shouted abuse) the blatently inadequate single lane access to the completed Coles development is absurd and dishonest. That end of Wentworth has had another elephant squeezed into a hat box. A supermarket, at least seven smaller retail shops and HOW MANY RESIDENTIAL UNITS!! will all have access to the rest of the world via a narrow lane just shy of East Esplanade. More of that madness should be strongly objected to!

Elke

11/10/2011 07:48:32 am

I to have some serious concerns about the proposed development. Traffic congestion doesn't appear to have been adequately considered. especially given the proximity of Manly School. There also appears to be a complete absence of community parking spaces in the proposal. The spaces that are there appear to be for the building tenants only.
The perimeter building designs are cumbersome even if they are in keeping with similar height restrictions on neighbouring buildings. I don't see why we need to compound design mistakes of the past simply because we have a precedent to do so. The overall visual effect of the design is crowded and cumbersome particularly on the corners of Wentworth Street, the Sounth Steyne frontage, and Victoria Road. In sufficient effort has been invested in creating a more graduated design that would be more in keeping with the type of beach front we are keen to promote.
The overall height of key buildings with in the complex needs to be reconsidered. I can understand the need for upgrading the current facilities but question whether a hotel, and one of this of this size is warranted within the development.

Ceri

12/10/2011 05:03:45 am

I think that someone needs to point out that one cannot just 'build an hotel' without an operator stepping in. It's not like a Guest House or Backpackers accommodation where you can use residential/flexible spaces. Hotel operators have their own, very specific requirements as to areas and ratios of public space/bedrooms/bathrooms for their business plan. It simply will NEVER work as is being suggested, it's either very naive, or calculated so it's possible to say 'well, we have this 8 storey building and no one wants to run it as an hotel, let's make it into private residential units and flog it'. It's actually quite breathtaking it would be mooted in a plan unless someone (Council?) is being taken for a fool.Is the Royal Far West Management in charge of some sort of charitable trust though? Is it possible for them to change what the place was set up for in the first place? Is there nothing in place that says it must continue to be used wholly for its original purpose? Does anyone know?

Lisle

12/10/2011 01:00:39 pm

Hania Norman

28/10/2011 08:26:44 am

The largest development ever in the village of Manly, by the non profit Royal Far West Home, is concerning, as the latest cost figures are $222 million and the plans are not totally approved. The Manly Council, who represent the locals have given this development the go ahead, and the closest neighbours to this huge complex have not been officially notified of this yet. We in Wentworth street were notified with a blank addressed junk looking letter addressed to the owners, and most threw out, not realising the huge impact that this sly notification would have on us. Amazing that the Manly council can find us to send bills and the state government also, yet neither had the respect to show the owners of the affected residents, what was happening. Then when we do find out we have just under 3 weeks to object to one website. Our executive committee were not invited in March or sent any information in regard to the meeting taking place, nor were we informed that Manly Council was voting on this development, and that their guidelines that they strictly impose on the locals were being ignored, for the non profit royal far west home, as the NSW planning was taking control.
The country kids who all the locals have supported over the years are being relegated to the background,as once a community block will now be a totally commercial block, with the country kids stuck between pubs, hotels, apartments, retail and no community feel anymore
Traffic will be a scandal, as so many more folk will use the narrow streets and less parking too, for the locals,
Residents in Wentworth street and Victoria Pde will lose their views, sun, sunrsie, sanity, have shadow and not see the sky either, as this multi storey complex, which will take years to build, will reduce solar access, view loss, acoustic privacy, visual privacy and have wind tunnel causing more dramas to the quaint seaside village of Manly turning it into a sydney gold coast,
as if we do not have enough drama with the pubs and bars here, and to add another to the mix, and within a few feet of the country kids and primary kids too, is a disgrace
i strongly object to the fact that the first open is on the 2nd of Nov between 3-7pm, how about the people who work late, no second date given to those away, sick, working unable to view this underhanded development, and objections to the proposal has to be in by the 4th of November, an outrage in 2011, i really thought as a community we had grown and learnt, but did not realise the government that we vote in, have the only say to this , which will affect so many for many years to come, in a very negative way Thanks for the chance to write what many feel

Councillor Cathy Griffin

23/11/2011 02:34:42 am

On one of the parcels of land proposed for redevelopment is a multi storey building which was the ‘former nurses’ quarters’ for the former Royal Far West Aged Care facility and the Royal Far West Children’s hospital. This building is now used as a ‘boarding house’ and provides accommodation for those unable to secure rental accommodation elsewhere in the Manly LGA. It is centrally located opposite a supermarket, adjacent to the Manly Community Centre which delivers a variety of social services to clients across the Northern Beaches, close to the ferry wharf and bus stops, and ‘on the flat’ making accessibility easy.
The Royal Far West charity previously ran an aged care facility, a childrens hospital and the Dept of Education operated a school for rural and regional children to come to Manly for extended periods of time to attend while the Royal Far West Charity met their health and wellbeing needs. The model of delivering such services to rural and regional families has changed and now the children, accompanied by an adult carer come to Manly for short periods for assessment and return home with a ‘program' to follow in their home location rather than staying in Manly for lengthy treatment sessions.
This change in modus operandi has resulted in the Royal Far West buildings including the Dept of Education School becoming redundant. The Manly community has known for some time that the site would eventually be redeveloped. However this is now happening with a minimum of consultation.
The proposal is to redevelop this prime piece of real estate replacing the previous community services precinct with a 164 room 5star hotel, 32 apartments and a building to accommodate the consulting rooms for those ‘assessing’ the health and wellbeing needs of children from rural and regional areas.
Of significant concern is the fact that the Manly community will lose the last ‘boarding house’ in the local area. Some of our most vulnerable community members will be forced to leave the area that they are familiar with. Whilst this is probably a common problem elsewhere, the fact that there will be no such accommodation available in the Manly CBD in the future is a travesty.
Residents in this accommodation are already becoming distressed about the uncertainty of their accommodation situation even thought they can remain for some time yet. No similar housing for people less advantaged than the majority of Manly residents is available and they have very limited housing choices in the Manly LGA.
Submissions have been extended till the 30th November 2011 and I hope that you would consider making a submission to the DOP particularly in relation to the need to maintain all types of accommodation in our suburbs. The Royal Far West is a not for profit charity and I would hope that they would consider replacing the accommodation for the less advantaged in our community within their huge $229million redevelopment.
Regards
Cathy Griffin
Councillor
Manly Council

23/11/2011 02:44:19 am

What financial agreement has been reach between the Dept of Education and Training and the Royal Far West Charity in regard to the redevelopment of land at Manly which includes two DET owned parcels of land?
Will any of the funds received as a result of the disposal of the DET land at Manly be re invested in any other DET facilities in the Manly area?
How do the arrangements for the RFW Children’s site align with the Government’s commitment to transparency and public accountability?

24/11/2011 08:51:39 am

It was my intention to blog a comment see above, but the telephone interrupted my good intentions. This is a major issue now for the Manly Community, and everyone must get involved.
I have a question for the Manly Daily as to why they placed their article today under the heading "Chance to hear West side story". Obviously trying to hide the story under an obtruse headline. This is not Westside story This is Royal Far West trying to impose on the Manly Community a development which has serious flaws and will destroy this important part of Manly at the ocean beach.
The Manly Daily article advised of a Community Meeting on Monday, November 28 at 6pm to 7.30pm in the Manly Community Centre hall, 12 Wentworth St, which is next door to RFW. Mike Baird will be in attendance but I find his comment
"We're pleased RFW is coming along to help tell the story and try to mitigate what is obviously a concern in the community"
curious indeed. We want RFW to understand at this meeting how the Manly community feel about this concept plan. And please, RFW no spinmeisters.
See you on Monday at 6.00 pm and bring a neighbour.

CandyBingham

30/11/2011 03:45:54 am

The redevelopment of the Royal Far West site offers an opportunity for a major rethink on how this "Village Community Precinct" could blend the best of old Manly with the new needs of the Royal Far West and the community.

The site includes a number of parcels of land owned by the Dept. Education. At the public meeting parent of MVPS, Paul O'Brien, showed great vision in raising the possibility of sharing school playgrounds and facilities with the RFW as the Village School is busting at the seams having grown from 250 - 600 students in 10 years.

This is one idea which should be pursued.

Paula Williscroft

2/11/2012 07:08:12 am

Here's a thought, instead of yet another hotel and apartments on the beachfront lets take the opportunity to produce a world class public educational setting - why don't MVPS and RFW jointly develop the totality of the land that is private and Department of Education. the school would be best placed at the beachfront with opportunity to expand/share playground with RFW and the hotel/apartment/retail necessity (to sustain future of RFW presumably) can be scaled more appropriately to border darley road etc where the old school does now. With really collaborative working and creative design a more strategic solution could be achieved for residents, manly council, MVPS and RFW.

Redevelopment of Royal Far West on Landmark Site

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