Pilot Project with Department of Planning and Environment (DPE)

Earlier in March, Council met with the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) to discuss a Pilot Project to further investigate the methodology and mapping used in our Conservation Zones Review and to explore potential changes to address community and stakeholder feedback.

This is important because the Department will have the final say about any proposed zoning changes resulting from the Review.

Site visit requests and mapping Investigations

We have also undertaken a review of all the submissions to the public exhibition. This has shown:

• Over three hundred submissions raised concerns with the accuracy of mapping, including approximately fifty which requested a site visit.
• Approximately forty submissions requested a site visit based on their concerns about the methodology.

We are conducting a desktop/ online assessment of those submissions which raised issues with mapping accuracy. This work will continue over the next few months concurrently with the Department of Planning and Environment Pilot Program.

Once we reach agreement with the Department of Planning and Environment on a revised methodology, site inspections will be arranged for landowners whose submissions on mapping have not been resolved.

Due to the timing of the Pilot Project with the Department, site visits may not now commence until July/August. We will contact those who requested a site visit to notify them of the delay.

Whilst Council is considering changes to its methodology to address submissions received, it does not propose to conduct site visits where a submission requests one based on methodology, as specific site conditions will not impact methodology.

We are aiming to complete all relevant work by early September.

The outcomes from the Review will help us develop a draft Northern Beaches Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan, which will be presented to Council and exhibited for community feedback in 2024.

We will continue to keep you updated.

We anticipate many of the issues raised can be resolved by potential changes to the draft methodology which Council is currently investigating.

Where areas of dispute remain about the accuracy of Council mapping of criteria used in the review, we will engage relevant consultants and contact those landowners who have requested a site inspection.

We are expecting to commence site visits from May 2023.

We are also meeting with the Department of Planning and Environment to discuss the Review, the submissions received, and possible changes. This is important because the Department will have the final say about any proposed zoning changes resulting from the Review.

The outcomes from the Review will help us develop a draft Northern Beaches Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan, which will be presented to Council and exhibited for community feedback in 2024.

We will continue to keep you updated.

The Geotechnical Review – Geotechnical Planning Controls report is a technical study undertaken by engineering consulting firm Douglas Partners Pty Ltd that sought to review the existing planning controls across the three former Council’s (Manly, Warringah, Pittwater) associated with geotechnical related matters and provide updated mapping and controls to be incorporated into a unified Northern Beaches Council Local Environment Plan (LEP) and Development Control Plan (DCP).

LEPs and DCPs are used by Council to regulate development and land use. Council must consider the risks associated with geotechnical conditions (landslide, groundwater etc.) associated with the land and the impact any proposed development will have on the site and the surrounding areas prior to giving development consent.

The new LEP and DCP clauses are based primarily on the existing Pittwater clauses which were the most comprehensive and procedural, however modifications have been suggested to incorporate some of the measures previously included in the Warringah and Manly clauses relating to other geotechnical issues.

The Geotechnical LEP clauses are proposed to apply to all land in the LGA rather than on specifically tagged properties on a specific Geotechnical Hazard map. This is to ensure that any development proposal takes into consideration geotechnical risks. This does not however result in every development application requiring a geotechnical report. Applicants will be required to lodge one of the following:

1. No Geotechnical Assessment
2. Preliminary Geotechnical Assessment
3. Detailed Geotechnical Report
4. Detailed Geotechnical Report and Hydrogeological Report

A detailed map is contained with the DCP that tags all land into one of seven Geotechnical Planning Classes depending on the known underlying geology and topographic position (e.g. C1 – Hawkesbury Sandstone, Slopes < 5 degrees). A table is also provided containing development characteristics which are then cross referenced against the relevant Geotechnical Planning Class to determine which of items 1 to 4 described above are required with a development application.

If any of items 2-4 are required, the applicant is also required to submit forms with their development application signed by suitably qualified geotechnical engineers or engineering geologists certifying the assessments/reports have been carried out in accordance with the requirements stipulated within the DCP.

No proposed LEP or DCP clause prevents any development that would otherwise be feasible from an engineering perspective. The clauses are intended to ensure adequate due diligence and feasibility assessment is undertaken prior to lodging a development application.