Hotel mogul Jerry Schwartz’s newest plans for the Fairmont Resort will ensure his Leura hotel on Sublime Point Road continues to be a popular children and adults playground.
At a council meeting earlier in the year, Dr Schwartz was given the go ahead for a 26 metre x 20 metre ice rink suspended over the existing lake.
It was the second development application he put in for the rink after his son Dane, 7 discovered ice skating on a family cruise.
“Dane loved it so much, all the kids loved it so much, we thought let’s make this one 50 per cent bigger [than the original DA].”
The rink will cost $694,000 to install at the site and will be open from 9am to 9pm, seven days a week from Easter to October. A concrete slab will be built over the existing stormwater pond and a fence installed.
A new 95 square metre children’s play area will also be built as part of the development which will be open every day from 7am to 8pm. Part of the development involves converting the existing gymnasium to a service desk for the ice rink including storage and indoor seating. It should be open by next winter.
In submissions to the council, WaterNSW assessed the proposed development’s effect on Sydney’s drinking water catchment as “being able to achieve a neutral or beneficial effect on water quality providing appropriate conditions in the consent were implemented”.
Those restrictions include that the ice rink shall be ‘bunded’ to prevent water melts, spills and entry to the upper pond and all melted ice water will be directed to Sydney Water’s reticulated sewerage system.
NSW Rural Fire Service assessed the property as being within the flame zone and said the highest ‘BAL FZ’ rating would be in place for the storeroom being built alongside the rink.