Bushfire risk sees plans for 3500 homes at northern beaches’ Ingleside scrapped

Changes to the way planners judge bushfire risk in the wake of devastating blazes such as Tathra and Black Saturday have led to a planned northern beaches suburb’s land release being scrapped.

Bushfire risk in the wake of what occured at Tathra (right) has forced plans for development in Ingleside to be scrapped.

• Developer Mirvac selling land at Ingleside
• Plans for 3500 homes at Ingleside reduced

Changes to the way planners judge bushfire risk in the wake of devastating blazes such as Tathra and Black Saturday have led to the Ingleside land release being scrapped.

The Planning Department’s acting deputy secretary of planning and design Brett Whitworth said major concerns over fire exits in the area meant the 2016 draft plan could not go ahead.

Mr Whitworth said the department and Northern Beaches Council agreed that continuing with the draft plan in its current form would introduce unacceptable risk.

An artist impression of the proposed Ingleside development.

They will go back to the drawing board to work with the council and the NSW Rural Fire Service to see “what, if any development” can go into Ingleside.

“Above all, we need to ensure the safety of residents at Ingleside,” Mr Whitworth said.

“During consultation we heard loud and clear that bushfire risk and mitigation was a key concern to residents in the area.

“We listened and responded to these concerns — by going back and re-looking at the way we were planning for bushfire protection in Ingleside.”

An independent assessment was undertaken, including a peer review of previous studies and report on bushfires in the area.

A large part of the report’s recommendation not to proceed with the development was based on updated bushfire protection guidelines which, until last year, had not been updated since 2006.

“The assessment is in line with current research and NSW RFS’s new risk assessment guidelines,” he said.

Changes to how planners judge bushfire risk in the wake of devastating blazes such as Tathra (pictured) have led to the Ingleside land release being scrapped. Pic: AAP Image/Dean Lewins

In those guidelines more scrutiny was applied in the regulatory instrument toward “strategic planning” around bushfires in the wake of catastrophic bushfires, Mr Whitworth said.

“With each bushfire, such as the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria and even the Tathra fires earlier this year, we learn new things about the pattern and behaviour of fires and it’s important that we continually factor in that information to improve our practices,” he said.

The report found not only would there have been concern for 9000 new residents — with modelling showing 100 per cent of Ingleside would have been within 700m of an ember attack — but extra risk to the wider community.

An artist impression of the planned Ingleside development.

The data showed 70 per cent of the proposed 3500-home suburb would have been within 100m of radiant heat exposure in case of extreme fire, in which 85 per cent of deaths are recorded.

“We need to ensure we have the right evacuation measures in place for current and future residents — especially in the context of other nearby areas such as Elanora Heights, Warriewood, Bayview and Church Point,” Mr Whitworth said.

“This evacuation assessment, as well as consultation with landowners, will help determine whether any further development could safely exist in the area.

“Any development would need to be at a much lower scale and we would need a guarantee that the road network could handle the extra development in the event of an evacuation.

Ingleside land that was planned for development. Picture: Adam Yip / Manly Daily

“It would also need to include upgrades to the existing road network and bushfire defences, for example by introducing strategic firefighting water supply tanks.”

Council CEO Ray Brownlee said safety of the community always had to come first.

“The safety and security of our community is council’s number one priority,” he said.

“Presented with the in-depth bushfire investigations by the State Government, it was immediately clear that the current plans for development at Ingleside are simply not viable.

“We understand this may be a disappointment for some of our residents, but we don’t see that we have a choice.

“We must put current and future residents’ safety first and we support the State Government’s plan to do further investigation to see what, if any, development is possible.”

Mark Gell and his neighbour Tony Scali, residents of Ingleside, have been waiting for years to find out what would happen to the land. AAP/Adam Yip

RESIDENTS SEEK COMPENSATION

Residents of Ingleside say they should be compensated by the State Government after the area’s long-promised rezoning was scrapped.

Mark Gell has been waiting 20 years for answers.

“Are they going to compensate people for the financial loss and stress they put them through?” he said.

“This would be the fifth time they have cancelled on the residents of Ingleside.

“In the meantime they don’t spend a cent here.”

His neighbour Tony Scali bought his block more than 50 years ago as an investment. And with significant rates and land tax, it has gone backwards in value while he awaited a long-promised windfall.

“How can governments play with people’s lives like this? Mr Gell said.

“They tell you they understand how you feel yet they haven’t spoken with the community in four years.”