Waverley Council vs Meriton: The fight over an historic Bondi synagogue

By ROBBIE MASON

Waverley Council is embroiled in a heritage standoff with billionaire real-estate tycoon Harry Triguboff.

Waverley Council wants a 1950s synagogue in Bondi, owned by Triguboff, heritage listed but Triguboff wants to turn the site into medium-density residential housing.

The site in question houses the Yeshiva College, also known as the Harry O. Triguboff Centre. This complex includes the synagogue, a learning centre and a library, as well as a food bank charity called Our Big Kitchen which distributes roughly 250,000 meals annually to those in need.

Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos said it was vital to preserve community spaces, as well as the local area’s distinctive architecture.

“This is the cherished home of a local religious community and we need to prioritise that,” Mayor Masselos stated.

Last year, the local council blocked a rezoning proposal by Kanimbla, the development arm of Triguboff’s property development business Meriton. But later that year, in November, the Department of Planning and Environment overturned this decision following a review process, ruling that the rezoning should proceed.

Following anxiety and dismay among sections of the Jewish community, Waverley Council placed an interim heritage order on the site while experts assessed the cultural, architectural and historical significance of the site.

A detailed heritage assessment, undertaken by Hector Abraham Architects in May 2023, determined the site is worthy of long-term heritage protection.

Reflecting the Bauhaus interpretation of internationally-acclaimed architect Harry Seidler, the synagogue’s design was ground-breaking for its time. The building has eye-catching sculptural concrete architecture and semi-circular window archways reminiscent of barrels or shells.

The Yashiva Centre also holds religious and educational importance as the first Talmudical school in Australia with a synagogue attached.

Waverley Council is now seeking community feedback for a heritage listing proposal which is on public exhibition until 14 September.

Harry Haddow, President of the NSW chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects, emphasised Harry Seidler’s significance as an architect.

Haddow said, “he heralded modernism in Australia and delivered some of the most remarkable projects in Sydney – Australia Square and the Rose Seidler House to name just two. This building is his only religious building – what a travesty if we were to allow it to be demolished.”

Haddow asserted that turning the synagogue into medium-density housing would be “akin to converting St. Mary’s cathedral into a drive through McDonald’s.”

Liberal Councillor Leon Goltsman, who represents the Bondi ward, told City Hub, “while the demand for housing is an urgent and valid concern, decisions like these must be approached with careful consideration of all stakeholders’ interests and a genuine understanding of the site’s unique value.”

“Striving for progress must harmonise with honouring our shared history,” Cr Goltsman continued. “The question isn’t merely about bricks and mortar but the soul of our community.”

The daughter of the synagogue’s architect, Harry Seidler, has thrown her support behind the preservation of the building. She previously told the Sydney Morning Herald that the site is “worth preserving”. She suggested to that masthead that it could be used for new purposes.

“This space is suitable for any public recreation,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be a synagogue. It could be a community hall.”

While Meriton wants to build homes where the historic synagogue sits, the fine details of Harry Triguboff’s aspirations for the site remain shrouded in mystery.

In a letter, dated 11 September 2022, to the Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel, who reviewed Meriton’s rezoning proposal, Triguboff appears to exploit his own funding for the Yeshiva Centre as a bargaining chip.

In that communication, he wrote that “attendance rates are low” at the synagogue and “there is no underlying or growing demand for synagogues”.

He then went on to write: “this correct zoning [the proposed rezoning] means that I can continue to fund the Yeshiva Complex with confidence. Otherwise, if the wrong zoning stays, it would encourage me to stop giving money so it stops and then get the correct zoning.”

Yeshiva College, an ultra-orthodox Jewish school at the site, shut in September last year after reports emerged that the school was using government funding to pay unaccredited teachers and placing students’ safety at risk.

Haddow from the Australian Institute of Architects pointed out to City Hub that “most religious buildings and sites in Australia are afforded considerable economic concessions, so they ‘owe’ their congregations nothing.  We don’t think it is too much to ask that their use, particularly when the buildings are of historical significance, remains for the benefit of the broader community.”

Meriton, which appears to have a penchant for rezoning proposals, has faced fierce opposition in the city’s east in recent times. In July this year, Meriton’s attempt to rezone Little Bay Cove and turn the seaside site into high-rise tower blocks was rejected for a third time following ongoing community dissent, council opposition and scepticism from state government urban planners.

Triguboff has long used the media to air his displeasure over local councils and resident action groups who rally against housing redevelopments.

In June, Triguboff penned an opinion piece for The Australian in which he lambasted the “hysterical reaction” to rent rises and large-scale redevelopment projections and complained that home-owners suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also called for local councils and the Department of Planning and Environment to approve, rather than delay, redevelopments amid the city’s housing crisis.

“All kinds of figures are quoted by various characters who know nothing, but unfortunately are quoted by the papers,” he wrote for The Australian.

Mayor Masselos asserted that Waverley Council is “not using heritage to limit housing development at all”.

“There is a very bona fide reason for protecting this important site and it is there for our community for the future,” Mayor Masselos stated, adding that Waverley Council must “acknowledge the diversity of our community”.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that Waverley Council has the third-highest dwelling density of all 130 NSW council areas at 3,487 dwellings per square kilometre, although this figure does not account for population growth.

Meriton did not reply to questions in time for publication.