Hi everyone,

This is a quick final reminder to please take 10 minutes to email the letter below (or one of your own) to NB Councillors by 15 February latest. I have included a list of Councillors plus their email addresses.

It is confirmed that Council will consider the Powderworks-Wilga–Wilson medium-density rezoning (PEX2025/0001) at its 17 February meeting. 

Personal emails from residents do matter — especially at this stage. There will be no opportunity for residents to speak at or before this meeting, which makes these emails doubly important.

You can personalise the first line (street/suburb is helpful), and any other part of the text, but even sending it as-is makes a difference.

Thank you in advance for your time and efforts in helping us to win this first battle with Council. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

EMAIL SUBJECT LINE

PEX2025/0001 – Request to reject Powderworks-Wilga–Wilson rezoning on safety grounds 

LETTER TEMPLATE

Dear Councillor,

I am a local resident of [Insert suburb], writing ahead of the Council meeting scheduled for 17 February, regarding the proposed Powderworks-Wilga–Wilson medium density rezoning (PEX2025/0001).

I ask that you reject this proposal on the basis that the key safety and infrastructure risks that caused the former Ingleside Place Strategy to be abandoned in 2022, remain unresolved.

In particular, I am deeply concerned about bushfire risk to this area, and fire evacuation safety. This pocket of Ingleside relies on Powderworks Road as a single evacuation route, and there has been no publicly demonstrated, independently reviewed modelling to show that mass evacuation would be possible under worst-case fire conditions. Recent extreme heat and bushfire events in NSW and Victoria only reinforce the reality of this risk.

I am also concerned that the proposal remains highly car-dependent, with no committed, meaningful upgrades to local roads or in particular, to public transport. Concentrating hundreds of new dwellings — including apartment buildings potentially up to eight storeys — in an isolated, bush-adjacent area is inconsistent with the NSW Government’s stated principle of locating medium density housing in safe, well-serviced locations close to public transport.

Premier Minns has said the State Government’s housing reforms are about “the right development in the right places, with the right outcomes for the community.” He has gone on to say, “These changes are designed to build more homes, in the right places, close to transport and other amenities.”

I am not opposed to new housing, but I strongly believe it must be safely and appropriately located for new and existing residents, and supported by adequate infrastructure.

Based on the information available, this recent rezoning proposal fails the test.

I respectfully ask you to apply the same safety and viability standards that led to the 2022 decision, and to put local residents and community safety first.

Kind regards,

[Insert full name]

[Insert street or suburb] 

Email addresses

Manly Ward

Candy.Bingham@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au Sarah.Grattan@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au Bonnie.Harvey@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au

Curl Curl Ward

Joeline.Hackman@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au Nicholas.Beaugeard@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au Kristyn.Glanville@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au 

Narrabeen Ward

Vincent.DeLuca@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au Robert.Giltinan@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au Ruth.Robins@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au 

Frenchs Forest Ward

Sue.Heins@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au Ethan.Hrnjak@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au Jody.Williams@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au 

Pittwater Ward

Rowie.Dillon@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au Miranda.Korzy@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au Mandeep.Singh@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au