The Beach Shed in Dee Why is due to end its lease this month after suffering damage from a storm surge on 2 April 2025 – the saltwater destroying the fridges, the coffee machine, and smashing everything inside, before carrying chairs, tables and food out to sea. According to the owner, uncertainty from Northern Beaches Council around the tender process was the nail in the coffin.
“The Council has to put the place up for tender, and I’ve been waiting to see whether I could be successful in that process, but Council hasn’t provided any clarity,” Justin told Manly Observer.
“I know the process needs to be fair, but I would’ve paid to fix the damages from the storm surge if I knew I was going to continue running my cafe from the Beach Shed. There’s no point in me fixing it up and then being told I didn’t get the tender.”
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Justin explained Council wouldn’t respond to his requests for clarity and eventually (and reluctantly) he decided it was time to end his lease after being in operation for just over 18 months (Justin took over the lease from the previous owners). When we caught up with Justin, he was pulling the fittings from the internal walls of the Beach Shed – a “couple hundred thousand dollars” worth of investment from the previous cafe owner.
“When Council eventually got back to me, after I said I was ending my lease, they told me I had to fix the storm damage in order to get my bond back,” he said.
“I got advice and found out I just had to hand it back to them in the original condition when the lease started in order to get my bond back. I’ve heard Council has made similar threats to other business owners leasing Council property.
“It costs me less to restore the place to its original condition of four brick walls than to fix the storm damage.
“I’m not on a hate campaign against the Council. I understand the conditions of the tender process, but all of this just doesn’t make sense. If I just left the place as it is, then whoever takes on the lease will at least have most of the place set up for a cafe, but now the next business will need to pay to have it refit.”
Justin added he has employed a solicitor in order to get Council to respond to his e-mails.
Council confirmed as part of this lease; the lessee is responsible for the fit out should damage occur.
Northern Beaches councillor Sarah Grattan explained that under the Local Government Act, if there are any objections to a Council lease, they need to get approval from the Minister for Local Government.
“In this instance we have a local resident who has been a long time critic of the Beach Shed and has made numerous complaints over the years,” Cr Grattan said.
“His complaint regarding the lease has meant we are in this process when we must wait for State government to permit us to issue a new lease. The time frame is not in our control.”
Before being a prime spot to get a coffee while the waves splashed against the boardwalk, Dee Why Surf Life Saving Club stored rescue equipment in the building.
“It should never have been converted by Council first to a Kiosk now a full blown café,” Northern Beaches councillor Vincent De Luca OAM told us.
“It has cost rate payers significant money because it is in an invidious position subject to flooding by tides. Each time it has been damaged, ratepayers have had to pay the bill as it is uninsurable because of its position.
“It is also in competition with local businesses that have to pay full Council rates and outdoor seating rates.
“Due to non-compliance with conditions of the lease and development consent, it has attracted significant complaints from residents.”
Vale Beach Shed
The Beach Shed cafe has been a morning ritual for many.
The chatty table of ladies, who arrived just before sunrise to secure a seat, and wished passers-by a good morning. The older gents made up of community royalty; including former St. Augustine’s teacher and Dee Why Surf Lifesaving Club (SLSC) Life Member Barry Cardiff, still nimble at nearly 90, who would share a laugh and a brew with John, a former Wallaby rugby great, every week.
There was Rosemary in her flowered straw hat, who had a secret bag of treats for passing pets being walked.
Dogs like “Scrumpy,” who would happily wag his tail, and sit and give a “high five paw” every morning for a reward.
There was Bruno, who regularly handed out a chocolate and a joke to the many sipping and watching the beach view.
The twin sisters who trawled the beach collecting rubbish every morning to keep the beach clean before popping up to say hello.
The young dads proudly carrying their babies in pouches, the runners who’d stop long enough to check their smartwatches before heading off with a hot cup.
The surfers who could navigate all weather conditions, who happily answered questions about the water temperature that day.
All of them strangers until the love of coffee and sunrises brought them to the Beach Shed, which became the heart of a community.
“I just don’t see how any of this benefits the community, which Council is supposed to be about, isn’t it?” Justin asked at the end of the interview.
“People continuously knock on the plywood door (in place of the roller doors that were damaged by the storm surge) and ask when we will be open again.
“You know, while we’ve been closed, there has been this group of ladies who get a coffee from one of the other cafes and bring their fold out chairs and sit outside the Beach Shed where the tables and chairs used to be.”
Justin confirmed his time in the hospitality industry is over.
This story was written by Marguerite McKinnon and Avi Vince
It’s not the first time the cafe has been at risk. Read our earlier coverage:
Saving their bacon: Dee Why seafront café not facing closure, but
