After a two year battle against community groups and the National Trust, Rhondda Peploe’s Continuing Health Care of Western Australia has received approval from the Federal Minister of Environment, Greg Hunt, to build an 89 bed care facility on abandoned Navy land on Middle Head.

Trading as Middle Head Healthcare, they have secured a 25 year lease of the land. The deal requires that 11% of the care beds will be reserved for former defence personnel and their spouses plus $3.5M be provided for public pathways, lookouts and landscaping. A condition is acceptance that the lease will not be renewed in 25 years time. Critics ask how do you dislodge elderly residents at the end of the lease.

The land is administered by the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust. Its executive director justified its support for the facility: “it’s a low impact use, traffic generation is low, and it’s the best use for the community”.