Northern Beaches town centres including Manly, Mona Vale set for thousands more homes

A call has gone out to fix chronic transport woes as new planning rules mean thousands more flats, townhouses and terraces will be built in town centres on the northern beaches.

An artist's impression of a proposed new Brookvale town square near the B-Line bus stop at Warringah Mall. Picture: Northern Beaches Council

A call for more money to fix chronic transport problems is set to be made ahead of new rezoning laws that will result in thousands more flats, townhouses and terraces built around town centres on the northern beaches.

Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins said the state government must invest extra cash for the troubled local bus network so it could cope with “unplanned growth” caused by its “Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy”.

The policy overrides council planning rules to allow homeowners and developers to convert land containing just one family home into medium-density housing, including blocks of six-storey flats if they are within a 800m radius of town centres or transport hubs.

Nine areas on the northern beaches have been nominated — Balgowlah Village Shopping Centre, Warringah Mall Shopping Centre, Forestway Shopping Centre and Frenchs Forest Precinct (Warringah Road) as well as the town centres of Dee Why, Forestville, Manly, Manly Vale and Mona Vale town centres.

In a motion by Cr Heins, to be debated at Tuesday’s council meeting, she raised concerns that the rezoning policy would add “many thousands more homes than have been envisaged” in the council’s own housing strategy.

An artist's impression of what Brookvale town centre would look like under Northern Beaches Council's proposed Brookvale Structure Plan. Picture: Northern Beaches Council

“A substantial increase in population without first addressing the chronic issues with public transport will be disastrous,” the mayor stated.

Independent councillor Vincent De Luca also lodged a motion calling on the government to abandon its development increases until more infrastructure was built.

A mockup of The Boulevard, which will be part of the new proposed Frenchs Forest town centre. Picture: NSW Government

“There is no current plan for additional infrastructure, transport, services or funding nor

has the government made any announcements regarding the previously proposed Northern Beaches (Link) Tunnel, the Wakehurst Parkway, Mona Vale Rd and the Spit

Bridge,” Cr De Luca’s motion stated.

The calls for infrastructure funding comes just a week after the government announced it was boosting northern beaches’ bus services by adding 10 double-decker buses for the B-Line. It will also buy 50 new “bendy” buses by the end of the year.

An artist's of the council’s Brookvale Structure Plan, looking north along Pittwater Rd from the B-Line bus stop at Warringah Mall. Picture: Northern Beaches Council

While welcoming the bus investments, independent MP for Pittwater Jacqui Scruby echoed the call for more infrastructure and called on the government to commit to funding the $340m upgrade of Mona Vale Rd (West) promised by the previous Coalition government.

“Creating hundreds of new homes is not going to be sustainable until our transport infrastructure problems are fixed,” Ms Scruby said.

Wakehurst independent MP Michael Regan, who lobbied for improved bus services along with Ms Scruby and Manly Liberal MP James Griffin, said “we need to keep pushing”.

“The Forest area is facing major growth pressures, and I’m making sure we get ahead of the game,’’ he said.

Mr Griffin said the new planning rules “must come with a full transport infrastructure plan”.