And yet as a community, it’s imperative we do turn our attention to the Sydney of the future because the decisions we make today will have an impact on that baby’s quality of life as they enter adulthood.
Good planning is all about looking ahead and ensuring we have the housing, infrastructure, services and environment to support our lives now, and for the future. Our aim is to do this while protecting and enriching the characteristics that make living here so special.
Sydney is growing. By the end of 2036, it is estimated Sydney’s population will grow by 1.7 million people to reach an overall population of 6.4 million people.The Northern Beaches will have to take our share. By current trends, we will need to house and service around 45,000 more people over the next 20 years. And like the rest of Sydney, the Northern Beaches has been challenged to become a “30-minute city”. That means we will need to commit to great planning to take us there.
We need to think about how we will do that now, including the infrastructure needed to support this change.
We know that’s no easy feat. Planning our local area of the future involves many moving parts. And it’s not just about making our suburbs bigger or smaller or making trips in and out of the Beaches quicker. It’s about changing how our places are planned and built, from today and years from now.
We have a great opportunity, as one new large Council, to create a single planning vision for the Northern Beaches as a whole - a roadmap for managing the way our area evolves, in a consistent, sustainable and coordinated way.
The North District Plan sets out planning priorities and actions for improving the quality of life for residents as the District grows and changes
…effectively plan for the future growth by balancing regional priorities with local values
Currently, we have four Local Environmental Plans (LEPs) and Development Control Plans (DCP). One for former Manly (MLEP 2013) and Pittwater (PLEP2014); and two for the former Warringah (WLEP 2000 and WLEP 2011), each with their own Development Control Plan (DCP).
Working towards a new approach will involve a number of strategies and plans:
A new LEP and DCP, supported by an local strategic planning statement and local housing strategy, means we will have a consistent, sustainable and coordinated approach to planning for the entire Northern Beaches that also recognises the uniqueness of our area. This will be our roadmap for managing the way the Northern Beaches changes over the next 20 years and beyond, as a local area and a broader Northern District.
The local strategic planning statement, DCP, LEP and the local housing strategy will guide future development. The overall goal of these plans is to make people’s lives better by making the places they live, work and spend time the best they can be, now and for future generations.
When planning for growth, we look at projections, trends and state government targets, consider environment and heritage impacts, consider planning opportunites and constraints and we consult with our community to come up with the best options for our area. We also have to address state, regional and district plans when planning at a local level.
Planning is:
We are growing and through great strategic planning we can influence how it happens.
The statement is a new document that sets the land use vision, priorities and actions for NSW councils next for the 20 years. It is a strategic planning tool that will shape how development controls will evolve over time to meet the community’s needs. Our statement is called ‘Towards 2040’.
This plan guides planning decisions for local government areas. It does this through zoning and standards, which provide a framework for the way land can be used.
This plan provides detailed local planning and development controls, that are tailored to local places to protect and enhance what is important to us.
Environment
Open space
Energy
Water and waste efficiency
Hazard resiliency
Partnering with the NSW Government to deliver improvements to transport
Electricity, gas, water
Social and community facilities (schools, hospitals, community centres etc.)
Community and culture
Housing
Public spaces
Heritage
Jobs
Investment
Business and economy
Tourism
The State Government sets housing targets for each local government area based on projected population growth. For the Northern Beaches, we must plan for 3,400 more homes by 2021. This is not inconsistent with our previous growth and targets, and is less than the 3861 built between 2011 and 2016.
Future housing that will contribute to achieving this target includes:
The State Government also requires Council to provide a 10 and 20-year housing target. To do this we will develop a Local Housing Strategy (LHS) in consultation with the community. This LHS strategy responds to the changing needs of our community and helps align our housing growth with infrastructure and services to support our population.
We need to reach these additional jobs targets:
Council will be undertaking an employment study to determine howto best meet these targets and provide for the needs of our community.
Land for jobs is in short supply and we must protect it.
Planning for future job growth will help:
The Northern Beaches aims to become a 30-minute city which meansmore people will be living and working locally.
Council will develop a set of planning principles to help guide decision sabout future change. These need to be based on directions from the NSW Government as set out in the North District Plan and our Community Strategic Plan. They are fundamentally based on good planning.
Our community will have the opportunity to help determine the planning principles for the Northern Beaches through the development of the local strategic planning statement.
Examples of good planning principles include:
These maps demonstrate some of the factors that will need to be considered when we plan for our future. They are examples only.
We will consider many other constraints and opportunities when planning for the future.
The population of Sydney is naturally growing. If we don’t plan for growth and change now we will have serious issues to deal with in the future (more congestion,not enough houses, poor services and facilities etc).
This is about setting the plan in place now so that the future of the Northern Beaches is sustainable and our quality of life is the best it can be.
The District Plan will guide growth on the Northern Beaches alongside the rest of Sydney.
Many areas of the Northern Beaches are simply not suitable to accommodate any growth.
Considerations will include housing and access to public transport, employment,and other services;constraints like bushland and flood prone areas and considerations for environmental and heritage protection.
There are likely enough homes being built across the Northern Beaches to reach our 5 year housing target but we still need to plan for the projected growth over the next 20 years and beyond.
If we don’t consider it now in a strategic way it means we won’t have an area that is sustainable and functions well in the future.
The State Government sets the housing and job targets for each local government area in Sydney in order to accommodate growth projections but Council and the community will plan the best way to meet those targets.
We will ensure everyone has a chance to have a say.
