The Northern Beaches Council is calling for the Development Delivery Plan proposed for land owned by the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council to be reconsidered in light of numerous and significant environmental and bushfire issues.

Council’s submission to the Department of Planning and Environment’s proposed Development Delivery Plan details a number of serious concerns relating to the process and review of work so far, environmental impacts on threatened species, wetlands, waterways and core habitat, and, bushfire risk and infrastructure issues.

Mayor Michael Regan urged the state government to revisit the proposal in its entirety.

“There must be alternative ways the NSW Government can support Aboriginal self-determination than facilitating inappropriate development,” Mayor Regan said. 

“This proposal does not effectively address the potential destruction to bushland, waterways and threatened species or the inherent bushfire risk.

“They have had to go back to the drawing board because of all these issues at Ingleside and they need to do so again here, largely for the same reasons.”

Mayor Regan said that in this case, the Development Delivery Plan also conflicts with many of the priorities and actions in important state planning strategies, such as the Greater Sydney Region Plan and the North District Plan, as well as Council’s Local Strategic Planning Statement - Towards 2040 and Local Housing Strategy.

“We’d also like to see an overarching strategic approach for all of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council lands, totalling 912ha, not just the nine sites included in this proposal.

“And we’d like some clarity about how the conflict of roles the Department of Planning & Environment has will be managed, in relation to their work in both preparing the Development Delivery Plan and also being the determining authority for the plan.

“We look forward to working with the state government to ensure a better outcome for these lands than the one currently proposed.”