A recap of the Northern Beaches LGA public forum

Last night, approximately one hundred Northern Beaches residents, urban planners, experts and community leaders came together for a public forum at Mona Vale Memorial Hall, to explore local housing and development challenges and opportunities. The forum, hosted by The Better Cities Initiative, also looked at how citizen-led approaches can be a pathway for building consensus and delivering better outcomes.

Moderated by Northern Beaches local Wendy Harmer, the What’s next for the Northern Beaches? forum provided a platform for open discussion on housing growth, affordability, sustainability, and how we can create more liveable and vibrant neighbourhoods. Key themes and issues identified during the Mona Vale public forum include:

• Place-based, community-focused planning: A strong desire for approaches that reflect local needs, values and identity rather than top-down directives.

• Learning from global best practices: Interest in how innovative urban design from around the world can inform local solutions on the Northern Beaches.

• Walkability and connected neighbourhoods: Support for improving access to public transport, and vibrant, people-friendly neighbourhoods.

• Affordable housing for young people and essential workers: The need for more diverse, affordable housing options to ensure people can continue to live in the community.

• Climate resilience and environmental protection: Ensuring development accounts for natural hazards and severe weather risks, while protecting the Northern Beaches’ unique environment.

The forum closed with a poll revealing 85% support for a Citizens’ Assembly approach to addressing these major housing, planning and development challenges on the Northern Beaches.

Dr Elizabeth Farrelly, Founder and CEO Better Cities Initiative, said the forum reinforced the appetite for a more community-driven approach to housing and development:  “Last night’s forum in Mona Vale was about listening. Bringing the community together to explore both the issues facing the Northern Beaches, and the potential solutions. From managing growth and protecting local identify and amenity, to keeping housing affordable for young people and essential workers, there was an appetite for a smarter, more balanced and community-led approach to planning."

"The forum made it clear that locals want to be part of the solution. We believe a better future is possible, and the way to create that future is by eliciting a true community voice. A Citizens’ Assembly would make planning much less argumentative; it would create a genuine third voice to sit alongside government and developers."

Speakers and attendees shared diverse perspectives on how the Northern Beaches and Sydney can manage growth while maintaining neighbourhood character and quality of life.

Jacqui Scruby, Independent MP for Pittwater said: “Both major parties have eroded the community’s perspective on planning laws. Deliberative democracy and having community thinking integrated into planning is really important. It cuts through populism. The process engages people in complex decisions, as well as the realities of planning. Bushfire risk, flooding risk and infrastructure constraints are all good reasons to ensure we’re not building in places that could people at risk.”

Michelle Washington, Planner and Better Streets advocate, said: “The centralisation of planning means the focus of place in planning has been lost. I was shocked about how hard it was to live on the Northern Beaches after living in London. Growth is happening and it’s happening on the Northern Beaches whether we like it or not. This growth can be a positive for us but we need the community at the heart of that planning. Better streets are safer, greener and more inclusive.”

Nick McDonald, Founder and owner of Bucketty’s, Brookvale, said: “I’m worried about the rising unaffordability of housing and the change in demography that is causing will put what makes the Northern Beaches special in danger. My staff, as well as essential workers such as teachers, should be able to live near where they work.”

Angus Gordon OAM, coastal engineer and former CEO Pittwater Council, said:
“In planning we neglect natural hazards at our peril. We have over 4,000 homes on the Northern Beaches in flood zones, while if we don’t plant our mitigation strategies right, things like the Collaroy seawall can be a disaster. The reality is the more seawalls we build, the more our beaches will retreat.”

John Brockhoff, Planner, Public Policy Professional and local, said: “Right now young people are being locked out of the housing market. Deliberative democracy can be a great way of rebuilding trust in institutions.”

What’s next?

The Northern Beaches forum builds on the success of forums in Waverley and Ku-ring-gai, which garnered 80 and 90 per cent support respectively for a Citizens’ Assembly approach to housing and development.The public forums are the first stage in a three-stage Citizens’ Assembly process that aims to culminate in a community-driven Local NSW Citizens’ Charter for Better Neighbourhoods, that can be a model for better, citizen-led urban planning.