Brookvale Vision and Structure Plan

Council remains focussed on supporting Brookvale’s role as an employment hub for the Northern Beaches and its continued evolution as an attractive place to both work and live.

Transport Study

Council has engaged consultants to prepare a plan for the future operation and management of the road and transport network to ensure growth in Brookvale doesn’t exceed the capacity of the road network and any necessary improvements are prioritised.

The Transport Study will take stock of changes in development, population, travel patterns, roads and public transport and test scenarios for the future.

We have heard the community’s concerns and aspirations from the submissions received and share the view that options for growth in employment and housing must be carefully considered on balance with traffic and transport constraints. It’s important that any growth in the area be supported by an appropriate level of infrastructure provision.

Employment Study

To meet the State Government’s requirement for all Councils to review their Local Environmental Plans (LEPs) and give effect to the Greater Sydney Region and North District Plans, Council is embarking on a study of employment on the Northern Beaches.

This study will assist Council in understanding trends in employment and how we can plan for adequate land and optimal development for local jobs and businesses to prosper and grow well into the future. Brookvale’s designation as a Strategic Centre emphasises its critical role for delivering employment opportunities for the Northern Beaches population. The Employment Study will inform decisions on where, how much and what type of housing, commercial and industrial development would be of most benefit to creating jobs for our community.

By late 2019, Council expects that both the Transport and Employment Studies will be completed and finalisation of the Brookvale Structure Plan will be able to proceed with a comprehensive evidence base.

Other ongoing work being undertaken as part of the LEP review, including a Local Housing Strategy and Social Infrastructure Study, will also inform Council’s planning for Brookvale.

The community engagement period closed on 20 November 2017.

Over the six week consultation period there were over 100 submissions received, 4,500 visits to the Your Say page and 2,200 documents downloaded.

In addition, we also

• held two drop-in sessions and discussed the draft plan with 85 people
• delivered brochures to all businesses and dwellings within the Investigation Area and the surrounding Area of Influence
• delivered letters to all non-resident owners of land within the Investigation Area and the surrounding Area of Influence
• put advertisements and articles in the Manly Daily
• met with individual key stakeholders, internal Council customers and State government agencies.

The top five issues raised by the community were -

• Traffic and transport issues (over a third of all submissions)
• Density and housing affordability – the need to explore further opportunities for increased residential density and affordable housing in the mixed use zoned areas
• Objections to overdevelopment (along with increased heights) due primarily to traffic and transport impacts
• Employment - importance of employment to the area and protection of Industrial Lands, whilst exploring opportunities for more employment related uses being permitted in the industrial IN1 areas
• Streetscape and visual amenity - Improving the streetscape, particularly on Pittwater Road, Brookvale and
• Requests to have the Investigation area broadened or expanded

Following consultation and in response to the numerous submissions regarding transport, we engaged consultants to investigate the issues further and to prepare a transport plan for Brookvale.

It’s important that any growth in the area be supported by an appropriate level of infrastructure provision.

We have also commenced an employment study for the Northern Beaches as part of our Local Environment Plan review.

These studies will assist in ensuring that we are considering all options for the future growth and development of Brookvale as a vital Strategic Centre for the region.

Once the transport and employment studies are completed, we will prepare a report to council that provides a detailed engagement summary and present a revised Brookvale Structure Plan for public exhibition.

At its meeting on 8 August 2017,Council endorsed the Draft Brookvale Structure Plan for public exhibition.

The public exhibition will be for 6 weeks and will include a number of drop-in sessions for the community and stakeholders to discuss details of the Draft Plan with Council officers. There will also be opportunities for individual meetings with key stakeholders.

Council is working on preparation of the exhibition material and a further update will be posted when final dates have been determined.

View Draft Structure Plan Report
View the Council Minutes (Item 8.1)

The Brookvale Structure Plan preparation has been progressing in accordance with the project program, however the structure plan will not be exhibited for public comment this year, as was previously anticipated.

The consultants for the project, Hames Sharley, are also working on the Hospital Precinct Structure Plan at Frenchs Forest, and the exhibition of this plan will take precedence.

The consultants have continued to refine the Brookvale Structure Plan document, however with the Christmas holiday period approaching, it is now likely that a report on the Brookvale Structure Plan will be presented to Council early next year with an exhibition to follow.

Council’s consultants, Hames Sharley, have been busy analysing the comments received from Stage 2 engagement with business representatives and key stakeholders.

View a summary of key themes from the business workshop

Hames Sharley will use the comments to feed into the development of the Draft Brookvale Structure Plan. We anticipate the draft plan will be on exhibition for public comment by the end of 2016.

The project has now moved into Stage 2 engagement which is specifically targeting the business community in Brookvale.

Throughout March, we are holding targeted workshops and meetings with key stakeholders and business interests to specifically identify their needs and aspirations as businesses in Brookvale.

There will be further opportunities for community input during Stage 3 which will involve exhibition of the draft Structure Plan, anticipated for mid 2016.

Thank you to all who provided feedback as part of Stage 1 engagement late last year.

An overwhelming number of people attended the information stall at Brookie show. More than 50 people attended the community drop-in sessions and more than 70 comments were received via our interactive map, emails and letters.

All comments received have been forwarded to our consultants to assist them in the preparation of the Structure Plan.

View a snapshot of some of the comments received in Stage 1.