Royal Oaks Hotel Update

The Royal Oak Hotel is scheduled for demolition early in 2020. The 1813 Stables at the rear of the Hotel where John Andrews sadly committed suicide in 1832 by hanging himself from the stable rail, will remain on the site.

Furthermore, I am amazed that the N.S.W. State Government have not considered the following:

• The Heritage significance detailed by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage i.e. Royal Oak Hotel and Stables And Potential Archaeological Site – Statement Of Significance, states the importance of the building as a wonderful example of a Victorian hotel and relatively rare in its age.

• The letter to the Transport Assessments Department of Planning and Environment from The Heritage Council of NSW commenting on and providing recommended conditions of approval for the Parramatta Light Rail project, did not support the demolishment of the Royal Oak Hotel.
• The proposal to move the Royal Oak Hotel 10 metres back towards the 1813 Stables was half the cost paid by the State Government to buy the RoyalOak Hotel site. This proposal was rejected as an unfeasible option with minimal investigation prior to the purchase.

It is also disappointing that the Parramatta Council has shown very little interest in preserving Parramatta’s City heritage by allowing the Royal Oak Hotel to be demolished without any major objections. The North Parramatta Residence Action Group has tried to save the Royal Oak Hotel but have run out of resources.

The 1813 Stables are now owned by the NSW State Government. Once the Royal Oak Hotel is
demolished the 1813 Stables will undoubtedly be sold to a private Developer. At this time the Parramatta Council may be in a position of some control and hopefully the 1813 Stables will be utilised to retain their heritage significance.

The Stables have been placed on a Watch List at the last Council Heritage meeting. We can only
watch and wait to see what the outcome will be and hopefully the Tunks connection may be a part of the result.

The history of the Royal Oak Hotel can be found in the book ‘About that Shout’ by Gary J Carter.

Tunks Descendants Association Inc.