Northern Beaches Council has issued yet another warning about the Patyegarang planning proposal at Morgan Road, Belrose – also known as ‘Lizard Rock’.

The planning proposal by the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council (MLALC) is currently on public exhibition on the NSW Department of Planning Environment website.

Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins said Council was deeply concerned about the environmental impacts and bushfire risks associated with the development and would be making a submission to the Department.

“We wholeheartedly support the intent of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act – after all, this land always was and always will be Aboriginal land – but we simply cannot condone this particular proposal due to the extreme risks and impacts it presents,” Mayor Heins said.

“The proposed development will see the destruction of 45 football fields worth of bushland and the construction of 450 homes in bushfire prone land.

“The new homes would be built on precious bushland and residents would face extreme bushfire risk. These new homes would also be surplus to our housing targets.

“We call on the Minister for Planning to listen to the concerns from our community. This is about protecting our precious environment and protecting lives.”

Council has previously written to federal and state MPs, along with relevant ministers, proposing an alternative solution and financial model so that MLALC can still benefit financially from its land, while the land is protected in perpetuity.

The planning proposal has significant planning, environmental and hazard issues, including:

• Bushfire risks – the site is in a high bushfire risk area. We know this from the 1994 bushfires. Evacuation will be a problem. No upgrades to Morgan Road are proposed. A new slip lane onto Forest Way requires acquisition of Council land and a new emergency egress proposed via Oates Place is proposed to be gated and available only during a fire event raising concerns about it practicality.
• Inconsistency with planning strategies – The proposal is inconsistent with key aspects of the Greater Sydney Region Plan, North District Plan, Northern Beaches Local Strategic Planning Statement – Towards 2040, and Northern Beaches Local Housing Strategy, particularly in terms of the preferred location and type of new housing and impacts on the environment and Metropolitan Rural Area.
• Inconsistency with Council’s Conservation Zones Review – The Review recommends applying a C3 Environmental Management Zone to most of the site due to its high environmental value and high rick of bushfires.
• Enormous loss of high biodiversity habitat – With 44.7 hectares of bushland to be cleared (equivalent to the size of around 45 rugby fields) the proposal and new development will have significant environmental impact. Given the scale of development, we are not satisfied that waterways within the site can be protected and the quality of run-off to Narrabeen Lagoon can be controlled.

“None of these issues have been addressed in the revised planning proposal,” Mayor Heins said.

“As we have said time and time again, this planning proposal does not demonstrate strategic or site-specific merit and should be rejected.”

The community is encouraged to give feedback by lodging a submission with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

The proposal is open for public comment until Tuesday 7 November 2023.  Council has resolved to prepare a submission outlining its concerns.