The State-led low-and mid-rise planning reforms, announced on Friday 21 February and published via the Housing State Environmental Planning Policy on Friday 28 February, have the potential to transform the urban form and population density for significant parts of my electorate of Wakehurst and, of course, the Greater Sydney region.Town centres identified in the policy in Wakehurst are Forestville, Forest Way, Frenchs Forest, Dee Why and Warringah Mall. Under the low- and mid‑rise planning reforms, dual occupancies, terraces, townhouses and low-rise apartments of up to two to three storeys are now allowed on R1 and R2 low‑density residential zoned land within 800 metres of those town centres. Residential flat buildings and shop top housing up to six storeys will be permitted on land zoned R3 medium density within 400 metres of those town centres and up to four storeys within 400 to 800 metres of town centres.
Across the Northern Beaches Council local government area [LGA], approximately11,000 properties are affected by stage two of the low- and mid-rise reforms. For reference, that is almost the exact number of dwellings for the entire LGA under the previous agreed strategic housing target, which was 12,000. Potentially, 11,000 properties could now be turned into tens of thousands of dwellings, smashing the well thought out and strategically planned—alongside the department of planning—housing targets. I am on record supporting more diverse housing options for people at all stages of life. I support density done well, and I am pushing hard for The Forest High School's soon-to-be-vacant site, with a new school opening down the road, to have 100 per cent of its 1,000 new dwellings be affordable and social.
However, as I think everyone in this Chamber would agree, all development must be accompanied by investment in public infrastructure. I have very serious concerns about delivering the infrastructure to support the growth in population that those reforms could bring. There is a lot of uncertainty about how quickly and to what extent the new planning provisions will result in successful development applications and construction. This suck‑it-and-see approach to planning runs the risk of seeing more homes and people without the essential public infrastructure to support them.
Public infrastructure in my area is already failing, and today I focus on bus and sports field infrastructure. The whole premise of the Government's housing push is to put more homes near effective public transport. As a reasonably large region with over 277,000 residents, the northern beaches region is unique in Sydney in its complete reliance on buses, with no trains, light rail or metro, and only two major roads to the city. Through the Forest area, on Warringah Road and Forest Way, there is not even a transit lane, let alone a bus lane. Chatswood station is already at capacity with regard to buses. The streets beyond the Roseville Bridge are already choked, and there is no bus priority to Chatswood or the city. Rat runs through the backstreets of the Forest are already the norm, and that is before the current policy is implemented.
As we have seen in recent weeks, in terms of capacity and reliability, the bus network is already failing existing residents, let alone additional future residents. That is due to an ageing and inadequate bus fleet and chronic driver shortages. That is why I was so pleased to secure the commitment from the Government last week for 60 new high-capacity buses, including 10 new B-Lines. In addition to that, we need affordable housing for essential workers, including bus drivers, in the redevelopment of The Forest High School and the Frenchs Forest town centre development. Lack of local affordable housing is a key barrier to recruiting bus drivers and teachers, among other key workers of whom we have a shortage right now.
The Government's plan for the Camperdown dive site is an exciting model, with 200 build-to-rent homes for essential workers to be developed by Landcom. I call on the Government to replicate that or something similar on the Frenchs Forest site, with 100 per cent essential worker and affordable housing. We need the Dee Why to Chatswood rapid bus service enhanced, ultimately, as a second B-Line that connects the beaches with the metro from Chatswood. But Chatswood is pretty much already at capacity, as I said. We need an on-demand first- and last-mile bus service, an extension of the successful Keoride operating in Pittwater to provide accessible services to key points of interest, and bus stops on arterial roads.
More density and population also increase the need for more sports fields, of which the Northern Beaches Council LGA already has a shortage. The most important project here is the upgrade of County Road Reserve, Belrose. The proposal to upgrade the 2½-hectare County Road Reserve in Belrose was initially announced as one of eight projects under the department of planning's $50 million Parks for People program. A detailed development application was prepared and exhibited. The project included a multipurpose amenity building, utility connections, field lighting and a new car park. However, in February 2023 the department of planning announced the County Road project was on hold indefinitely.
Those upgrades would make the reserve more accessible and help address the severe shortage of sports fields across the northern beaches. In particular, the Wakehurst Football Club currently has use of County Road for home games. However, there are no toilets or change rooms. That prevents the club from hosting women's matches especially. With the women's game becoming more popular, more accessible playing fields must be a priority. The low- and mid-rise planning reforms are a significant contextual policy shift that make the case for these infrastructure investments in Wakehurst even more urgent. They have gone from important to essential. Since being elected, and before that as Mayor of Northern Beaches Council, I have been calling for investments to preserve and enhance the quality of life for the people of Wakehurst, and I will not stop.