Pittwater Life April 2023 Issue

New ‘sustainable’
Ingleside push
News
SOLUTION: Locals want to be able to sub-divide
large lots and maintain their properties as asset
protection zones.
Dr Stephen Choularton has lived in Ingleside
for 30 years. He’s on the north side
of Mona Vale Road, which divides the
suburb in two.
The northern part is still rural, the southern
half more residential.
For much of that time, Stephen has seen
various plans to expand housing north of
Mona Vale Road.
An environmentalist (his doctorate is in philosophy),
Stephen is now leading a campaign to
pressurise Northern Beaches Council to allow
more subdivisions and homes to be built on
the fringes of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
“Here in Ingleside we pay some of the highest
rates in NSW,” Stephen explains. “But we
have no services. No water to the home, no
sewage disposal system, no stormwater relief.”
Hence the foundation of Bayview and Ingleside
Residents Association, which Stephen
describes as a group of owners proposing the
“first sustainable and resilient suburb on the
Northern Beaches”.
The most distinctive building in Ingleside
now is the Baha’i House of Worship, built in
1961, visible from most parts of the Northern
Beaches and considered one of the most significant
religious constructions in Australia of
the 20th Century.
Essentially the residents association is
proposing any block of land in Ingleside larger
than 2000 square metres should be available
for sub division.
But Ray Brownlee, the outgoing chief executive
of Northern Beaches Council, has ruled
this out unreservedly.
“Council is supportive of sustainable development,
which is embedded in our planning
controls and policies,” he told Pittwater Life.
“Any future development on the Northern
Beaches must meet these sustainable development
requirements.
“This option was considered by the NSW
Government during their detailed planning
investigations (in 2016). It was noted that this
outcome could result in hundreds of additional
dwellings and thousands of additional
residents in Ingleside.”
That original proposal indicated 3400 dwellings
could be built in Ingleside, which was
revised down to 980 – primarily because of the
risks of bushfire.
In June 2022, the State Government abandoned
Ingleside as a growth area altogether – a
decision welcomed by the Council which had
long questioned the wisdom of redeveloping
the land north of Mona Vale Road.
Apart from the bushfires risk, the Council
pointed out the area lacked road and transport
connections.
And that ratepayers would have to pick up
the bill for such infrastructure, as well as the
impacts on biodiversity of a landscape bordering
on Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
Stephen insists this is not the case.
He says that the residents are proposing to
pay for the infrastructure, through sustainable
methods – including “renewable electricity,
the capture of rainwater, disposal of waste
water on site, an area set aside for food growth
and that the entire property is maintained as
an asset protection zone”.
Pie in the sky?
Ironically – given Ingleside’s bushfire
dangers – the association claims to be driven
by “the effects of climate change (with) the
increased risk of flooding and bushfire”.
A typical half-acre rural block “is big
enough to be able to use recycled sewerage for
watering the garden, can have a house that
has enough roof area to both gather water for
the household and generate enough electricity
to ensure the house is energy neutral,” the
association’s press release reads.
”Half-acre blocks have enough room to have
animals, vegetable gardens and generally contribute
in a meaningful way to the food needs
of the household.”
The rural areas of the Northern Beaches “currently
provide an asset protection zone for the
residential areas of the Northern Beaches, but
this asset protection zone could be improved.
“Many of the houses built in rural areas of
the Northern Beaches were built prior to current
bushfire protection standards. This means
there is no obligation on landowners to maintain
their properties as asset protection zones.
“By allowing the larger lots in rural Ingleside
to be divided into smaller rural lots, it
would allow Council to impose a legal obligation
on landowners to maintain their properties
as asset protection zones for protection
for themselves and other residents of the
Northern beaches.”
The Council disagrees. “Any potential development
in Ingleside, including the suggested
approach by the Residents’ Association, must
address bushfire hazards.
“Bushfire studies of Ingleside raised significant
concerns with any proposal to raise
residential densities.”
The Association’s aims may have been
doused for now – but their ambitions remain.
– Steve Meacham
14 APRIL 2023
The Local Voice Since 1991