Pittwater Life December 2020 Issue

New panel opens dialogue
on Beaches development
News
So far so good. That’s the verdict of Roderick Simpson, chair
of the influential new Design and Sustainability Advisory
Panel at Northern Beaches Council – an expert group of
architects, landscapers, urban designers and sustainability
experts who will play a pivotal role in how the region looks,
works and feels for years to come.
Sceptics may call it another layer of bureaucracy – paid for
by developers through fees – but Simpson says the goal is to
get a dialogue going before developments move
irrevocably to the “transaction” phase – the point
of no return when applications are submitted.
“Importantly both council and the panel are
really keen to talk with people before they start
that formal lodgment, having a more general
conversation,” says Simpson.
The Panel, which meets once a month and has
had three day-long meetings since September,
will consider major or potentially contentious
developments including SEPP65 applications and
make recommendations after hearing both sides
of the story.
SEPP65 applications apply to ‘shop top’ housing
or mixed use development with a residential
accommodation component if the building
concerned is three or more above-ground storeys
and contains four or more dwellings.
CHAIR: Rod Simpson
“Our role is to be independent and to really pick up and
provide advice to both to the applicant but and council,” says
Simpson.
“So far that’s worked pretty well (and) we’re developing our
approaches as we go.”
He says the Panel has three main priorities: “What are the
impacts on the adjoining sites; what’s the private amenity and
how that might be optimised for future residents or future
workers.
“And then of course, there’s the broader public
interest, how each site can contribute to its
place.”
The projects considered so far have been
diverse. “It ranges from some ‘shop top’ housing
through to seniors living, a proposal to change
admitted use in a zone. We’re really about more
significant-sized developments, things that
involve planning controls.”
The Panel, says Simpson, will stop projects
running off in tangents. “You don’t want to go
down a blind alley, right? There’s no point.
“I think it’s fair to say in general developers
are perceived to always go for more, that they
push really hard on the basis that they’ll then
have to step back.
“That’s not exactly an efficient or great way
to manage a relationship or achieving the best outcome. It’s
incredibly transactional, it’s incredibly zero sum.”
Simpson says the Panel is not trying to dictate taste or
determine a ‘Northern Beaches’ aesthetic.
“That’s probably the most contentious issue always. One
person’s taste is different to another and we try to avoid that.
What we try to do always is look at the context.” –Martin Kelly
* In other local development news, Council’s website notes the
development application for 351 Barrenjoey Road, Newport,
proposing shop-top housing for the block on the northern corner
of Robertson Road (pictured), has been withdrawn. There is
a separate DA (1042) currently advertised for 349 Barrenjoey
Road (the southern corner of Robertson Road) proposing four
shops and five residential units – more info Council website.
News
22 DECEMBER 2020
The Local Voice Since 1991
The Local Voice Since 1991
DECEMBER 2020 23