One of the Hunter's most historic pubs could be reborn as a pokie-free community asset under an audacious plan for cooperative ownership.
A Catherine Hill Bay community group has hatched a proposal to purchase the Wallarah Hotel, affectionately known as "Catho Pub", which has been the social heart of the south-eastern Lake Macquarie village since 1875.
Commercial realtor CBRE Sydney listed Catho Pub for sale through expressions of interest in May, describing the property as a "landmark coastal hotel".
Under the cooperative ownership proposal, a share in the hotel would cost $500, and owners, regardless of the level of investment, would each have one vote.
No target figure has been established by the steering committee. However, a sale price of $2 million at $500 per share would require 4000 investors.
The cooperative would be governed by an expert and experienced board of directors, voted in by members.
The first meeting to explore cooperative ownership of the pub was held in May and attended by about 50 people.
A steering committee was formed, and an expression of interest has been lodged.
Last Sunday the steering committee held another meeting to officially launch the ownership bid.
The Facebook page Community Bid for the Catho Pub has also been launched to drum up support.
"We want to retain the heritage and the character of the pub, but there is some restoration work to be done on the building and the facilities," steering committee member Kate Hill said.
"Very importantly, it's going to be pokie-free. That was a very strong view by the community. That's what they supported."
Catho Pub has 12 poker machine entitlements.
Ms Hill said the group also wanted the pub to have cafe facilities, food, live music and a community event space.
"I think in the early days, we need to sort of suck it and see in terms of how much profit we can make," she said.
"We need to plough money back into renovations and so forth. But in due course, the vision is that any profit is ploughed back into the community, so maybe funding community events or providing community space.
"So that's the kind of model. It's run by the community, for the community."
The steering committee has taken inspiration from the success of the Petersham Bowling Club, which went pokie-free in 2007, and the Royal Hotel in the Riverina village of Grong Grong, which was purchased by its community in 2022.
Steering committee member Amanda Little said she expected support for the community-ownership model to also come from outside Catherine Hill Bay given the venue's long history and rustic charm.
"Because it's been around for a long time, it has a pretty wide catchment of people that are interested in it or have been to it, had a beer and liked it," Ms Little said.
"The surfing community or people visiting Catherine Hill Bay for a Sunday.
"It is a pub that is a destination for a very wide catchment, from the Central Coast right up to Newcastle, and sometimes even Sydney. So, we think it will appeal to a lot of people."
Over the years the Catho Pub has survived mining booms and busts and was almost destroyed in the 2013 bushfires.
In 1971 Dorothy Wotherspoon became the first Aboriginal publican when she and her late husband Teddy took over Catho Pub.
Six years later the pub featured in Summer City, Mel Gibson's film debut.
Despite the pub's history and rustic charms, the commercial realities of Catherine Hill Bay's popularity have been the biggest threat to the hotel.
Long-time Catho Pub owner and director of Newcastle-based property company Hunter Group, Darren Nicholson, has plans to build a new 100-plus capacity hotel on the northern end of Catherine Hill Bay at the former bowling club site.
Mr Nicholson also owns an approved 220-lot subdivision at the northern end of Catherine Hill Bay.
Plans for the new hotel were submitted to Lake Macquarie City Council in 2024.
Mr Nicholson told the Newcastle Herald that the project was "a mammoth job" and had stalled due to "red tape", but discussions are continuing with potential partners to help bring the development to fruition.
"It's not the monetary side," Mr Nicholson said. "We need somebody that can come in there.
"Our preference would be somebody that's got the runs on the board, that's had difficult sites like this before, and knows who to talk to."
Mr Nicholson's original plan for the new Catherine Hill Bay hotel hinged on transferring the liquor licence from the Catho Pub, arguing the venue is not adequate for the village's growing population and tourism market.
Asked if he could see both the Catho Pub and new hotel operating simultaneously one day, he said, "Personally, if we built a new one down there, I would have thought it would have killed the old one.
"There'll be some people that would hang on for the old one simply because it's got some history, and I get that.
"But in terms of amenity and facility, I would have thought it'd be unfair as competition to be a new one where I want to put it and the old one, so I don't want to get in that predicament."
