Astronaut

Two stories from the Manly Daily paper that may see Dee Why be crossed off your list of potential destinations:

(Prior to reading this I had an image of all Northern Beaches being quiet idillic locations. I'll be interested to hear if anyone on this site is local to Dee Why and can give us a personal opinion onthese issues).


Vandals, graffiti: the ugly face of Dee Why
Lisa Capozzi
09Nov07

VANDALS are turning parts of Dee Why into the back streets of the inner city, according to residents fed up with graffiti-covered shopfronts and walls.

A number of premises along Pittwater Rd and Oaks and Howard avenues were attacked over the weekend, adding to rife malicious damage, which costs Warringah Council $140,000 a year to remove from public buildings.

One resident described parts of the suburb as looking like an inner-city train station.

The Collaroy man, who did not want to be identified, fearing retribution, said the graffiti was ``shocking''.
``There is enough graffiti down there to write a book with,'' the man said.
``It is terrible and the biggest problem is that no one cares.''

Warringah Chamber of Commerce president Stephen Robertson said many of the shops in that part of Dee Why were earmarked for development so business owners didn't want to spend the money to remove the graffiti.

``I walk around there and it is an eyesore,'' he said. ``Vacant shops are targeted but graffiti is a problem anyway - it's pretty much everywhere you go. I'd like to see an end to it, but the question is how,'' he told The Manly Daily.

Mr Robertson said the chamber would raise the idea of a Dee Why legal graffiti wall with Warringah Council to try to combat the grow-ing problem.
``If we had a designated area for graffiti artists, maybe that would help.
``It could be repainted on a regular basis and there could even be a competition of some sort.

Legal graffiti walls are operating at various sites across Warringah, including Killarney Heights Oval, Allambie Oval and Collaroy Plateau Oval.







Dee Why's last chance
Kelly Robinson
09Nov07

A $400 MILLION redevelopment of Dee Why town centre is being hailed as the last chance tosave the ailing suburb. Multinational corporation Multiplex and partner Vumbaca Bros yesterday pledged their joint venture would revitalise and breathe life into the run-down area. Multiplex commercial development managing director Dennis O'Regan said: ``This is a rare and significant opportunity and it is imperative that, together with the council, we grasp and approach it in the right manner.

``It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to revitalise the town centre and in all likelihood the opportunity will not rise again.''

Warringah Council will also redevelop surrounding land, including the Howard and Oaks Ave car park.

Both projects include a mix of residential, retail and commercial uses with streetscape improvements and underground parking.

The plan covers the area between and around Howard and Oaks avenues and includes a new 3000sqm town square, a small Corso-style marketplace, the doubling of Walter Gors Reserve, another small park, corporate offices and twin residential towers 20 and 17 storeys high.

The development also includes a supermarket and about 100 speciality stores.

The towers will be some of the tallest buildings on the peninsula if the proposal is approved and will include between 260 and 300 residential units in total.

If the plans are approved, construction on the site is expected to start at the beginning of 2009.

It is the second set of plans Multiplex and the Vumbaca Bros have submitted to the council.

The first masterplan, lodged in 2006, was sent back to the drawing board earlier this year.

Mr O'Regan said: ``A common theme from all the consultation that has taken place to date, is that change needs to happen in the existing area proposed for redevelopment.''

Warringah Council administrator Dick Persson agreed the plans were Dee Why's final attempt to become a community hub.

``This may be Dee Why's last chance for revitalisation. We now have a landmark proposal that is exciting news for the northern beaches region and I look forward to seeing the creation of a vibrant Dee Why town centre.

``Many residents express their disappointment at the run-down nature of the town centre and I am keen to see its transformation from an older style local shopping centre to a modern regional centre for the northern beaches.

``My expectations are that in the future Dee Why will have an outstanding level of urban design.''

Mr Persson said he expected some community opposition to the height of the towers and would listen to residents' concerns.

``A lot of people are going to be concerned but, ultimately, if Dee Why is allowed to continue, it will be an absolute disaster.''

It is expected more than 1,500 new jobs will be created from the development as well as improved traffic flow around the centre.

The council will consider amendments to the Local Environment Plan, allowing the development, at a meeting on Tuesday night.

A new LEP and initial concepts of both major projects are expected to be put on public exhibition early next year.

emigratingherberts

We have been looking at Dee Why and surrounding suburbs. OH visited and said it was his least favourite, but sounds like that may be an understatement!

rodandhayley

I was there in 2005 and really liked the place
far fetched article if you ask me ,hardly run down inner city

CarlaA

I go through Dee Why regularly. The part these articles refer to is on two very busy roads. If you walk round that area, it feels very busy/urban/traffic ridden. These pavements don't feel to me like somewhere 'owned' by the local community, but a rather urban space that many people pass through. (People heading to the beach, travelling to the city or local mall, heading to/from school, coming down in the evening to meet up here for a drink.)

There are banks, internet cafes/cheap and cheerful cafes (a very good kebab shop), charity shops, a big RSL. There's a busy bus interchange. A bit further down towards the city are some light industrial areas mixed in with housing and the Northern Beaches selective high school; there's also a big OfficeWorks store, a FitnessFirst gym and car showrooms. Also an area of preserved bushland.

I don't find DY depressing or threatening (or only by the traffic), but by no stretch are those main roads 'quiet and idyllic'. I don't know the back streets or the area towards the beach; they are probably much more pleasant.

I imagine it's a suburb that has changed a lot in the past 20 years as the traffic has increased. The presence of the large Warringah Mall nearby may also have affected what shops are around here. I imagine the concerns of people who've lived here over some time are behind the Manly Daily articles. It certainly would benefit from some redesign to cope more gracefully with the needs of people and traffic. As a newcomer, I just read it as a busy urban spot, with the coast and suburban housing nearby in that way that only Sydney seems to do.

Many of the suburbs in Sydney have the problem that they've grown up around/along a main road. Presumably this was what brought them life. But now the traffic levels are a problem, with the road acting as a divide through the middle of what probably used to be a more pedestrian-friendly place.

Mona Vale and Avalon on the beaches are quite distinctive in that they have town/village centres that are set back off the main road. These aren't pedestrianised, and traffic is still a bit of an issue, but they have friendlier 'centres' to my mind. IMHO past the bends is where it gets to be really idyllic. But it's all pretty good when you think how close it is to the centre of such a major city.

Sorry for long post. Hope this is of some help. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for seeing places yourself. And even then, you look at them through different eyes after you've been here for a few years than you do when you first arrive.

DrWho

I'd agree... I drive around DY for work quite a bit... The main road is just that - a through route for anyone going north from the city or south from the nicer 'burbs further up... Although it's not my cup of tea - too many units - it's not as bad as that article tries to make out...

gillysm

I agree with DrWho and Carla too - DY has got a beautiful beach,park, pool and foreshore area with lovely cafes. It's shops are old and tatty and the main road area is definately in need of an upgrade but that newspaper article is just sensationalist.
We used to live on the northern beaches and DY was our beach of choice wih many others to choose from. We are now living in Brisbane but we stay at DY whenever we visit (at least once a year).

JoolsB

My Grandma lived in Dee Why until she moved into sheltered accom recently. I visited her there quite a bit over the years and it always seemed fine to me-not glamorous but definitely more 'des res' than some expensive parts of west london I have lived in.

Have you considered Newport and Bilgola?

Jimclevs

The Northern beaches are suffering from lack of investment over the past 20 years - there is too much reliance on Pittwater Road, and as elsewhere households tend to be more than one car families these days.

Dee Why itself is unit-ville - nothing wrong with that if the units are regularly modernized. It is, because of this, a high rental area with a transient population and, perhaps therefore, no real suburb pride shown by some of the residents.

The further north you go, the more houses there are, as opposed to units and they tend to be owned rather than rented.

A major answer, of course, for the horrendous traffic problem would be a rail line down to the city from this area but this one has been talked about for years and is never likely to happen especially while the Iemma-mafia is allowed to mismanage this State.

Jim