Plans Filed on Northern Beaches for $50m Mental Health Hub

Plans for a private hospital on Sydney’s Northern Beaches have been expanded as demand for mental health support rises.

A six-storey mental health hospital was approved for the site at 11 Tilley Lane, Frenchs Forest in 2017. However, 1600 residents signed an online petition urging that the project have more beds. 

ThomsonAdsett has designed the $50-million Mental Health Hub for developer CK Property Group, with a state significant development application for its expansion currently with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

According to documents, “there is a significant unmet demand for mental health services in the Northern Beaches with an immediate need for an additional 225 acute beds”.

The hub would be opposite the $2.14-billion Northern Beaches Hospital and would comprise an eight-storey mental health facility with 80 beds.

Pending approval, work is expected to begin this year.

Each room will include an ensuite and five rooms will be accessible rooms.

The facility would have a gymnasium, living and dining spaces with garden access, a multi-purpose room with terrace access and a kitchenette and laundry on each floor.

▲ A render of the mental health hospital previously approved for the Frenchs Forest site in 2017.

The Northern Beaches sub-market has fallen short in accommodating for mental health issues with reports showing a 30 per cent increase in teen suicide between 2017 and 2020.

The hub plans follow “the demand for and shortages in much needed mental health facilities” across the sector.

The facility would include an ambulance bay, clinical therapy, a three-level basement carpark and a cafe and outdoor dining to assist the rehabilitation of patients.

The proposal is expected to create 175 construction jobs and 180 operational jobs.

Northern Beaches Hospital opened in 2018 and was funded in a private-public consortium between Healthscope and the NSW government.