The Northern Beaches Council adopted the Little Manly Reserve Landscape Masterplan in 2019 to guide long-term upgrades, park expansions, and facility improvements around Little Manly Beach and Little Manly Point Park.

Then, two years ago in Sept 2024 Northern Beaches Council invited expression of Interest (EOI) from community groups interested in leasing or licensing 34 Stuart St, Manly, for the delivery of community cultural, social, recreational, environmental or educational programs and services.

Located between the carpark on Craig Avenue and the boat storage at 36 Stuart Street, Manly, 34 Stuart Street forms part of the Little Manly Reserves Landscape Masterplan and is currently leased by Council as a private residential property. The building is approximately 150 square meters, consists of three bedrooms with high ceilings, modern kitchen and bathroom. Although the land is zoned as RE1 Public Recreation and is currently only authorised for use as a residential premises based on existing use rights. Proposed uses will require planning approval, and the successful tenant will be required to submit a Development Application (DA) to authorise an appropriate community, educational, recreational, or environmental facility. The applicant will bear the cost of the application and any associated reports (traffic, environmental, heritage, etc.).

In the 2 years since the call for expressions of interest the Council has failed to secure what it believes to be an appropriate use for the building.

Council received EOIs from several groups, including:

• Save Little Manly Beach Foreshore Inc (SLMBFInc) which submitted a proposal for a Multi Use Centre that included programs to support young people, Community Cottage rooms for hire, a base for kayak and paddle board groups, and a base for environmental activities and information, and

• Manly Skiff Club proposed a lease term of 20 years to establish a sailing school that would retain the character of the heritage building and transform the rear area into a dedicated boatshed to provide secure storage for skiffs and equipment making it readily accessible for their youth programs.

Despite these EOIs and further discussions over the past two years with the various groups, Council has failed to find a what considers an appropriate group to lease the property to. Council claims that none of the EOIs sufficiently demonstrated how the proposals align with their key strategic documents, including the Community Strategic Plan and Better Together 2040, both of which formed part of the assessment criteria.

Now some in the local community consider that in 2026 the best resolution for 34 Stuart St is to demolish the cottage and incorporate the 150 sqm into the existing park and landscape it to make it accessible to everyone as a public open space.