Hillview Community Health Centre is at 1334 Pacific Highway, Turramurra.


Alister Henskens SC MP recently posted a video of himself condemning Chris Minns for breaking his election promise not to privatise NSW’s public assets. Now Chris Minns is proposing to sell Hillview Community Health Centre to developers. See HERE

Alister Henskens writes:

The Minns Government also recently announced it will privatise Hillview Community Health Centre at Turramurra by selling the 10,000m2 Heritage conservation site to private property developers. This land was purchased by the State Government in the 1970s for strategic health, road and transport reasons. The proposed sale will compromise any ability to upgrade the rail or road infrastructure at Turramurra in order to end the tidal-flow traffic arrangements on the Pacific Highway or improve the safety of pedestrian crossing of the Pacific Highway to complement the revitalisation of the Turramurra Town Centre.

In recent correspondence with Alister Henskins SC MP for Wahroonga noted the following details that he received in October 2024.

The Hillview Community Health Centre, 1334 Pacific Highway, Turramurra (Hillview CHC) was declared surplus by whole of NSW Health in 2024.

NSW Health is in the process of disposing Hillview CHC in accordance with NSW Government guidelines and expect market value.

Property and Development NSW (PDNSW) has been engaged on behalf of NSW Health to facilitate Hillview CHC’s disposal process.

The Government Property Audit (the Audit), completed by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI),  has identified Hillview CHC as suitable for housing to be delivered either by Housing Delivery Agency (HDA), being Homes NSW and LandCom, or the Private Sector.

The HAD have not expressed formal interest in Hillview CHC. PDNSW intends to market the Hillview CHC site jointly with the adjoining site located at 1330 Pacific Highway, Turramurra owned by Transport for NSW (TFNSW).

The amalgamated site is zoned R4 High Density Residential and SP2 – Infrastructure representing a combined area of over 10,000 square meters.

As the Audit has identified Hillview CHC’s usage as housing to be delivered by the HDAs, Homes NSW and LandCom, or the private sector, enquiries concerning the Hillview CHC’s disposal process should be made to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure and Property and Development NSW.

There was also a Ministerial announcement in November 2024 that referred to land at Turramurra as one of the sites which would be developed into housing with the private sector although Hillview was not specifically named. Read Ministerial media release: Building Homes for NSW delivers sites for another 1,400 homes with developers invited to register interest HERE

It is a significant heritage site where FOKE has run many walks to the site over the years.

Hillview is part of the Hillview Heritage Conservation Area

Extract from Hillview Bushwalkers “TO PROMOTE HEALTH AND PLEASURE
THROUGH WALKING AS A GROUP” by Don Woolley:

Hillview” is a heritage building on the Pacific Highway in Turramurra, just east of Kissing Point Road. It was built in 1913 by Edmund Paul, on land that had originally been owned by Thomas Boyd. Boyd received a 100 acre grant in 1832 after service in the Napoleonic wars with the Royal Veteran’s Corp. After cutting timber for use in the colony, Boyd planted an orchard there in 1845 and for many years the area was known as Boyd’s Orchard. His name survives in Boyd Street, which forms the rear boundary of the current property. The name “Hillview” was first applied in 1902 to a health resort built on some of
this land, and operated by Mrs E Burton.

Edmund Paul who was a prominent Sydney businessman (Managing Director of Schweppes, Chairman of APA Insurance, Board Member of Ampol) purchased some of the Hillview land together with some surrounding land. He took advantage of the prominence of the site at the top of the ridge and its proximity to the railway station (then known as Eastern Road Station) by building a high class boarding house. It is described in the Heritage and Conservation Register maintained by the Department of Roads and Maritime Services.

“…Paul also built a large two-storey building behind the original cottage. The new building which was oriented away from the street and towards the view provided all the facilities necessary for a quality guesthouse. These included a library, dining room, drawing room, breakfast room, morning room (parlour) and conservatory. A viewing platform over the front porch afforded spectacular views of Sydney.

The building boasted high-quality materials and finishes throughout, including marble columns in the entrance hall, quality joinery, hardware, plaster work, leadlight, fireplaces, and verandahs with detailed timber balustrades.”

The building was converted to flats in about 1926, but flats were regarded with suspicion by Ku-ring-gai Council because they threatened “not only the environmental quality of the suburb, but also its moral tone”. Thus it seems that the building was no longer so grand. It was purchased by Ku-ring-gai Council, but by 1977 it had become a white elephant, was in a rundown condition and had an uncertain future. Dr Tom Acheson, who was at the time the president of the Kissing Point Road Progress Association and who was a capable and persuasive administrator, convinced the NSW Health Department that an excellent use for the building would be as an “out-station” for Hornsby Hospital. The building was refurbished with funds raised by the combined Rotary Clubs of Ku-ring-gai, and converted for use as a regional health centre operated by Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital (North Sydney Health Region). This was a great improvement on other possible outcomes, such as demolition and replacement with houses, an office tower, or apartments for example. It was officially opened in 1978, but some services had commenced before this.

The site quickly became established and was operated as an important and useful provider of supplementary health services for many years. It is still (2016) being used to provide health services as part of Hornsby Kur-ring-gai Hospital, and lifestyle programs are still being delivered from the property.

The character of the original buildings can still be appreciated, although they are showing signs of neglect. The remains of a low stone wall with a low column bearing the Hillview name, behind a pair of elegant wrought iron gates standing on the northern side of the site just inside the boundary with the Pacific Highway, are reminders of a gracious past.

26 November 2025