Warriewood Proposal a Taste of Things to Come: Greens
Northern Beaches GreensMedia Release
September 2, 2017
A new Warriewood development proposal for five storey blocks of flats is an example of the pressure to increase building heights that Pittwater will experience under the new Northern Beaches Council, the Greens say.
Dee Why's Crane skyscape
Greens candidate for Pittwater Miranda Korzy said the planning application for 2 Orchard Street proposes to increase the maximum building heights for the lot from the current zoning of 10.5 metres to 17.5 metres (or five storeys), with an extra 102 dwellings.
The application uses the B-line bus as part of its justification for the rezoning and specifies how it conforms to the Greater Sydney Commission’s North District Plan, Ms Korzy said.
“Pittwater will come under unprecedented pressure for development with state government plans to increase density in the area and because it has removed most of the council’s planning powers,” she said.
“Developments over $5 million will go straight to a so-called independent planning panel (Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel - IHAP's), most of whose members are chosen – either directly or indirectly - by the planning minister and are likely to come from the construction industry.
“Residents will have to stay vigilant to ensure that we do not end up with new dwellings that block by block, overtake the existing planning regulations for Pittwater.”
Ms Korzy said that development approvals have skyrocketed in the former Warringah Council area since 2013, raising fears the same may be in store for Pittwater.
An analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data by the Greens shows that 801 homes were approved in the former Warringah area in 2016, more than double the NSW government’s target of 400 for that year.
The 2016 figure was a dramatic increase on that of 2013, when 343 dwellings were approved in Warringah.
“With the NSW government’s plans under the Greater Sydney Commission for an extra 180,000 people to be housed between Manly, Macquarie Uni and Palm Beach, we will be under increased pressure to accept more concrete and high-rise on the beaches.
“The local community is outraged by developments such as at Frenchs Forest, where the voices of the people have been ignored.
“The Greens will not tolerate this kind of overdevelopment extending to Pittwater and, with the help of our state MPs, will work to regain Pittwater Council and control over our planning destiny.”