Manly Observer: New state government policy that overrides Council development powers, allowing taller, bigger, multi-dwelling buildings in Manly, Balgowlah, Manly Vale, Brookvale, Dee Why, Forestville, Frenchs Forest and Mona Vale are now in effect.
It’s referred to as the Low to Mid-Rise Housing Policy, or LMR; it’s the second stage in the NSW Government’s bid to address the housing shortage...
Public transport on the Northern Beaches includes extensive peak hour queues, buses missing key stops due to being at capacity, and residents left stranded at bus stops over cancelled services as bus driver, and buses themselves, remain in short supply. For those ditching the bus, getting in and out of the Beaches by car is a crawling commute.
State MPs, Michael Regan (Member for Wakehurst) and James Griffin (Member for Manly), and Jacqui Scruby (Pittwater) share the same concerns as Council...
Pittwater MP Jacqui Scruby shared the sentiment. Plans for higher density housing in Mona Vale should be shelved until the bus crisis and Mona Vale Road are fixed, she said recently.
“We simply cannot support higher density housing. We can’t transport our current population at the moment. I invite the Premier to join me for a 190x commute to the city in the morning, if it turns up, to show him exactly what we are dealing with up here.“
“I appreciate that the NSW Government is trying to deliver much-needed new homes to address the housing crisis, and it has sensibly decided not to earmark other villages in Pittwater under these reforms. I am very happy that most of Pittwater retains local control over planning issues.
“But, we cannot just build and hope for the best. We need to carefully co-ordinate planning of homes, infrastructure, and transport, if we don’t want to grind to a halt every morning and every afternoon,” said Ms Scruby.