Beachside residents in one of Sydney’s most expensive suburbs have been divided by a bitter battle over a new restaurant, just days after a similar row divided their neighbours.
More than 100 people have lodged public objections to plans for a 170-seat restaurant overlooking Whale Beach, in the north-east of the city.
The owners of the current apartment complex have submitted an application to renovate the building in 2020 and develop it into a modern residential, shopping and dining complex.
They submitted new plans in 2022 in hopes of expanding the restaurant’s capacity to 170 guests, including 30 on an outdoor balcony.
But affluent residents took action at their idyllic seaside home, which was becoming increasingly crowded, with fewer parking spaces identified as a major problem.
Details of the row emerged after neighboring Palm Beach was rocked by an angry response after a handful of locals blocked the extended opening hours of the revamped Boatshed restaurant, The Joey.
More than 100 people submitted public objections in 2022 to plans (photo) for a 170-seat restaurant overlooking Whale Beach
The owners of the current site of an eyesore apartment complex (pictured) and former delicatessen cafe have submitted a submission to renovate the building in 2020
The Whale Beach application was supported by Northern Beaches Council staff but rejected by the Local Planning Panel, made up of independent planning experts and local residents.
The panel found that the proposed larger restaurant would have ‘unacceptable noise impacts on adjacent and nearby properties’. Sydney Morning Herald reported.
However, the decision was overturned by the Land and Environment Court last Thursday when it chose to accept an appeal from owner Leslie Cassar.
The owners have now agreed that the venue will be limited to a maximum of 150 people, with the limit varying depending on the season and time of day.
The location can seat 150 people for lunch on weekdays year-round, but only 80 on weekends.
Between October and March, a maximum of 130 people can sit at a table on weekdays and a maximum of 100 on weekends.
From April to September the restaurant seats 150 guests on weekdays and 140 on weekends.
Commissioner Timothy Horton said during the ruling, “This is not intended to address or diminish residents’ genuine concerns that parking is a source of stress and concern for those living in the area.”
During a visit to Whale Beach, the court ‘saw examples’ [of] vehicles parked illegally, drivers who fail to observe stop signs and the like’.
A member of former Whale Beach resident Leonor Gouldthorpe said the restaurant’s noise would make her life “unbearable”.
Whale Beach residents complained that an expansion of the proposed restaurant (pictured) in 2022 would cause too much noise
To help reduce noise, the venue is limiting group bookings of more than 100 people to 12 times a year, erecting a 6-foot ‘lapped and covered’ fence and seating a maximum of 150 people (pictured, Whale Beach)
To help reduce noise pollution, the venue will limit group bookings of more than 100 people to twelve times a year and install 6-foot fencing.
In evidence presented to the court, the Palm Beach and Whale Beach Association said it “believed the size should be commensurate with the needs of the local population.”
The row started when an angry resident of Palm Beach, next to Whale Beach, said the noise from people eating at a restaurant 600 meters away and an entire golf course away would destroy his peace and quiet.
Stephen Jones successfully blocked the later opening hours of The Joey in Palm Beach, the billionaire’s beach resort at the tip of Sydney’s northern beaches.
But that has angered other residents who support the restaurant – also known as Barrenjoey Boatshed – who insist it is more than half a kilometer from the nearest neighbour.
More than 130 locals backed the plan to extend the restaurant’s opening hours to 11pm every evening, from the current daily opening hours of 7am to 4pm and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays during daylight saving time.
Co-owners Ben May and Rob Domjen recently spent $7 million revamping the famous cafe, which regularly features in Seven’s TV soap Home and Away, filmed on the nearby beach.
They renamed the isolated boat shed The Joey Dining Room and Bar, and applied to the Northern Beaches Council to extend their opening hours.
While 132 local residents submitted letters of support for the new restaurant, seven Palm Beach residents complained, causing the city to block the request.
Financial adviser Stephen Jones led the protest against the application, saying it was ‘totally unreasonable’ and would cause his family intolerable anxiety.
The Joey, in Palm Beach, also known as the Barrenjoey Boatshed, is currently open daily from 7am to 4pm and during daylight saving time until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays
The boat shed is at least 600 meters away from the nearest house in Palm Beach
He said he had lived in the area for 22 years and the late opening would cause “significant adverse noise impacts” to neighbors 600 yards away on the other side of the nine-hole golf course.
“I object… due to a significant increase in the duration of loud music and in particular the deep bass beat effects that resound in the venue and can be heard from our home,” Mr Jones said in a submission to the council.
‘This loud music and deep bass have a significant impact on our experience and well-being.
‘Music and noise from the patron can be heard in my bedroom.
‘It is completely unreasonable that local residents should suffer from noise pollution because this location is in use seven days a week.’
Another Palm Beach resident, Richard Kovacs, also objected to the proposal, claiming it would “significantly increase noise levels and disrupt the amenities of those living and residing nearby.”
“It is a fact that when the previous operator organized late night events on Friday and Saturday evenings, the noise levels affected local residents,” he said.
‘The Boathouse’s waterfront location very clearly amplifies the noise along the estuary beach and as a result the repetitive, loud and unrelenting sound reverberates through the water and negatively impacts the resident’s amenity well beyond the applicant would admit.
“Given the impact, it is clearly unreasonable to extend opening hours to 11pm seven days a week.”
Stephen Jones is one of seven Palm Beach residents who have complained about The Joey’s expanded hours
The Joey is popular with Sydneysiders and tourists alike and has been the setting for numerous scenes in Home and Away.
The restaurant held an opening event on Feb. 11 from 5 to 8 p.m.
A three-person council committee rejected the application, saying it was ‘likely to lead to unreasonable impacts on amenities in nearby properties’.