Gerringong Surf Life Saving Club is a step closer to getting a new clubhouse, with its DA being approved last night.

The approval is subject to a deferred commencement consent requiring them to include access to public facilities within the project, as the submitted plan restricts access to members and the existing building has public facilities.

“We will work with Council to either provide a standalone facility next to our building, or modify the design of the building’s ground floor to include a public amenity,” says GSLSC President Gary George.

He says members are delighted with the approval, which will see a substantially enlarged facility built on the Council-owned community land.

Funding has already been obtained for the project - $5.5 million from the Federal Government and $490,000 from the State Government’s Surf Club Facilities program.

The project team showing the plans to Fiona Phillips, who obtained Federal funding for the facility

“We started this project five years ago and we’ve put a lot of work into it,” says Gary.

“The driver has been to have a bigger club for more storage area, as we have outgrown our current clubhouse which was built by members in the 1970s.

“We wanted to create a similar concept to what we have upstairs now, with a big multifunction area, kitchen and bar that we can operate now under a limited licence for members.

“At the same time we wanted to create a space that would give us more flexibility on how we could use it down the track. We don’t know what those options are at the moment, but it is very difficult for surf clubs to generate revenue and it is really important that we can work to identify future revenue streams.”

Expanding the activities that can happen on the site will depend on changes to the Local Environment Plan (LEP) to allow things like restaurants to operate in the prime location, and then a new DA will be required to permit the use.

Nearby resident Craig Pontey says that while he supports the upgrading of the community facility, he is against it being designed for a commercial activities that aren’t allowed in the zoning.

“The existing LEP doesn’t allow the commercial application, so it will be an interesting next stage for all of this,” he says.

“My concern is there are whole lot of issues around traffic, licenced premises, noise, smells from the kitchen and parking that still have to be addressed.”

At Public Access, he likened the DA to a wolf in sheep’s clothing given its design is for activities not permitted on the land.