Brand new centre available for hire
It’s been 12 years in the making, but Northern Beaches Council officially opened the brand new Warriewood Community Centre on 23 March. It’s sustainably designed, has four multi-purpose halls including a dance studio and large function space with caterer’s kitchen, two meeting rooms, and covered outdoor areas overlooking the reserve. More than 20 groups of individuals are regularly using the new building.
The community centre, which cost $19 million to build, was constructed on the site of the old Nelson Heather Centre, which Warriewood Residents Association (WRA) used for meetings pre-COVID – they’re on Zoom now. Kay Millar is secretary and vice president of WRA and a former Pittwater Councillor.
“It was actually a Pittwater Council development which began in 2014,” says Kay. “The old Nelson Heather Centre was built on a disused tip site and was over 40 years old. The floors had started to undulate and the dancing classes couldn’t be held there because they were a trip hazard. It was at the end of its life.”
Consultations on a new centre commenced in 2014 and the WRA were invited to participate.
When Pittwater and Manly Warringah councils amalgamated to become the Northern Beaches Council in 2016, Kay advocated for the new community centre to be included in the delivery program and budget. There were 59 hirers using the centre at the time.
The new centre
When draft plans were available, Kay and the WRA made some suggestions on how to make the space more user friendly. These included a main entry point to the building (as Kay says the entry to the Nelson Heather building was confusing), a covered main entry for those with mobility challenges to be dropped off and picked up, covered areas at the rear overlooking the garden, kitchens in the main and secondary halls and seating so people could wait comfortably.
“Northern Beaches Council recognised that we didn’t have a recovery centre or a place where in times of disaster, flooding in particular, that the community could go to,” says Kay. “And they saw that as another way of making (the centre) more accessible to others across the Beaches.
“We donated a notice board,” says Kay. “Because there’s no village in Warriewood Valley where there could be a notice board. So, a digital notice board has been erected with a plaque acknowledging that it was provided by the (WRA) and we’re very proud of that.”
The centre was partially funded by developer contributions from the Warriewood Valley contributions plan. Visit the council website for details on hiring the new space.