The battle for parking at the iconic Scarborough Pub spills out into the streets

Everyone’s heard of the Aussie pub with no beer. In Wollongong’s far northern suburbs, while the beer is in plentiful supply, everyone it seems is talking about the pub with little or no parking.

That pub is the historic Scarborough Hotel. Officially opened in 1887, when most thirsty patrons arrived by horse and buggy, it’s now recognised as Wollongong’s oldest licensed premises.

Its popularity, for close to 140 years, has meant finding a place to park has always been a challenge. It was so in the horse and buggy era, and it remains so today. Problem is, finding a place to park today is more difficult than ever and may get worse.

In days gone by, for many of us who head to the Scarborough Pub for lunch or a cool drink, we’d hope to jag a parking spot on a large area of gravel just to the north of the hotel. Most of us assumed this informal parking area was owned by the pub. We were wrong.

About six years ago, Paul Anzani saw a great opportunity to buy that prime piece of real estate from Rio Tinto when the company started off-loading some of its non-mining assets. Paul knew that land well. For 13 years he was licensee at the Scarborough, working for the pub’s long-time owner, billionaire WIN Television owner Bruce Gordon.

When Bruce decided to sell the hotel nearly two years ago, he agreed to list the pub and the adjoining land for sale with Colliers, but offered to the market separately.

Epochal paid $9.5 million for the pub, but according to Paul Anzani the new owners said the adjoining land, used over all those years as the hotel’s unofficial carpark, was “surplus to requirements”.

“They ended up offering me a paltry amount. They wanted me to effectively give it away for $200,000," Paul said. "They gave me all sorts of environmentally sensitive excuses, but it was a slap in the face as far as I was concerned.”

Paul said he believed the land, measuring close to 4,400 square metres, much of it cliff face, was worth “much closer to a million dollars”.

The land Paul owns is now fenced off to the public and has been listed for sale, seeking expressions of interest as “residential land”on the open market. The advertisement on realestate.com describes the site as “an elevated setting on Scarborough cliffs with ocean and sunrise panoramas”, and its C3 environmental zoning “permits temporary structures, wheeled cabins or eco-living homes”.

Paul said he was still happy to negotiate a “fair and reasonable price" with the hotel’s new owners, saying the land to the north of the hotel could easily accommodate up to 60 vehicles with some clearing of lantana front the site.

The pub’s new owners have hit back, saying: “Due to its environmental zoning, the land cannot be developed or used for parking. As such, Epochal Hotels offered fair market value based on its current zoning and permitted use, recognising that it has no practical development or operational capacity.”

In a statement, Epochal said it has raised concerns with Wollongong City Council over the fenced off area, claiming the fencing in question extends beyond the owner’s property boundary and onto public land.

“Our understanding is that individuals do not have the right to fence or obstruct public land without Council approval. We have asked Council to confirm whether the appropriate permissions are in place and, if not, to take the necessary steps to resolve the matter. The fencing has restricted public access and altered the amenity of a well-used public area, prompting concerns from locals and visitors.”

Paul Anzani insists he’s done nothing wrong. He says parking on busy weekends at the hotel can be chaotic with 1,000 patrons regularly attending the venue and more than 1,300 on “crazy weekends“ or special days like Australia Day.

“This is affecting people living up to 100 metres away with people parking all over the place, including on median strips and in driveways. On occasions I’ve heard things have become quite heated with acts of aggression when hotel patrons try to park their cars in front of a local’s driveway.”

Paul fears the current parking problems could go from bad to worse. Epochal has lodged a Development Application with Wollongong City Council for more than $2 million of works, which would see the addition of a new outdoor kitchen, bar and a cabana area.

“You can’t tell me this isn’t going to increase the overall capacity of the pub and bring in additional patrons,” Paul said, adding the plans would also take out an area to the south currently used for staff parking. “On weekends there are often 25 staff on duty. Where will they park?”

Epochal says “no parking is being removed as part of this proposal. The existing parking has historically been used by staff; Epochal Hotels have since opened it to guests, effectively increasing available parking. The Development Application proposes no change to this.”

The Illawarra Flame understands Epochal Hotels has filed a Class 1 deemed refusal appeal for the DA with the NSW Land and Environment Court, with the matter listed for a first direction on 9 February 2026. This effectively takes the matter out of Council or the independent Wollongong Planning Panel’s hands.