Council commits to Bronte House

Waverley Council has committed to continue ownership and preservation of Bronte House, ending uncertainty about the future of the heritage house.

Council has resolved to undertake any major renovations deemed to be not best carried out under the repairing lease, including the replacement of the roof with an expected cost of $250,000 from Council’s maintenance expenditure.

“Council wants to protect and value this cherished piece of local heritage, so it can be enjoyed by future generations,” said Waverley Mayor Sally Betts.

“We are going to repair the roof and we have no intention of selling Bronte House.”

Aya Larkin, a Bronte resident and musician, welcomed the decision to preserve the heritage value of Bronte House.

“I commend them for it – I know there’s going to be some costs that rate payers are going to bear, but I think ultimately it retains the character of what is a beautiful suburb,” he said.

Labor Councillor Paula Masselos said it is “good that Council wants to keep Bronte House in a pristine state”, but questioned what the repairing lease will mean in the future.

“What they’ve done now is set a precedent for any significant repairs that would ordinarily be happening under a repairing lease, which would now become Council’s liability which actually counteracts what a repairing lease is all about,” she said.

“It’s a good thing we want to keep our heritage item preserved. It’s a pity other councillors didn’t feel the same way about the Boot Factory.”

But Ms Betts said the repairing lease has worked in the past and that the tenants “do repairs up to a certain value”.

“We have always known that the roof would be much more expensive. It would fall outside that repairing lease,” she said.

The Bondi Boot Factory, one of only two remaining boot factories in Sydney, was sentenced to demolition after a rescission motion was rejected in April to save the site.

“I’m rather distressed that again a significant item of heritage value is now being slated for demolition,” said Ms Masselos.

Liberal Councillor Angela Burrill said the Boot Factory was in a degraded state when Council acquired it in 1984.

“Despite Council repairs and restoration over many years there are major structural issues with the building,” she said.

“For this reason, spending funds on the Boot Factory now would not fix the structural issues.”

By Paul Gregoire