Celebrating over half a century of caring for Avalon

LATEST NEWS

Our latest Bulletin 

Every two months APA circulates members with its latest Bulletin. A copy is also displayed on our notice board in fromt of Terry White Chemmart & there’s a QR link to the website on the community notice board outside the Avalon Recreation Centre. A copy is also kept in the Avalon Community Library.

Read Bulletin no. 122, featuring a Sydney Water work in Old Barrenjoey Rd,  our meeting with the Member for Pittwater Jaqui Scruby, trees in Avalon and taking on the role of Honorary Treasurer.

STOP PRESS: update on the former Palm Beach Fish and Chip site. See the recent summary in Pittwater Online News, September 29 – October 27, 2024: Issue 635.  Also, click here for info on Barrenjoey Alliance for Arts and Culture (BAAC).

 

Our Hon. Treasurer is retiring from the position

Please consider filling this role for APA. To perform the role, which is minimal, you will need:

– some experience of and confidence with numbers. The position does not require accounting experience

– the ability to work with our existing paid bookkeeper to prepare accounts twice a year

– the ability to attend approximately 6 short committee meetings a year, plus the AGM, held in the Avalon Beach Surf Club building, at which you will present the financial report.

The current Treasurer is available to help, mentor and conduct a thorough handover.

If you can help please contact Craig Boaden at APA at 0417 676 476 or email avalonpreservationa@gmail.com  

APA meets with Jacqui Scruby MP

Members of the APA Executive Committee met recently with the new Member for Pittwater Jacqui Scruby.

Issues discussed were the government’s Low & Mid-Rise Housing Policy (Jacqui argued successfully for an exemption for our small coastal villages including Avalon Beach), the Coastal Walkway north of Newport Beach, road safety for pedestrians between Kamikaze Corner and the Avalon Beach Village, the urban tree canopy and methods to slow or stop its gradual destruction, road safety for students of Avalon Public School via a pedestrian crossing over Sanders Lane at Old Barrenjoey Rd, Avalon Shared Space and Sydney Water work in the Village, and e-bikes including the recommendations from the recent government inquiry.

It was a very constructive meeting and APA hopes to meet again with Jacqui.

Sydney Water work 

Several APA committee members met recently with representatives of Sydney Water to discuss proposed work in Old Barrenjoey Road. The work commenced in March in two sections: the first from Avalon Public School to the Avalon Recreation Centre, a trench, the work to be carried out at night, and the second a tunnelling operation from the Recreation Centre to the Avalon Fire Station, during the day. In the north, traffic will be rerouted through the car park just north of Woolworths. Traffic will enter at the northern entrance (which is currently an exit) and exit at the southern entrance to proceed south along the Avalon Shared Space towards the Avalon Parade intersection. Due to the need to keep equipment onsite, the northern section of Old Barrenjoey Road will be unavailable to vehicles except via the detour through the carpark. Parking in this section will only be in the carpark, not on the road itself. For the Sydney Water project website, click here.  For the Sydney Water flyer, click here.

Other new work:  Sydney Water has just advised APA that it will be conducting maintenance on its wastewater pumping station near Claude’s Road (the track opposite the skate park which heads over the dunes to the beach). The work will start immediately and last 6 weeks for stage 2. Community pedestrian access will still be available as will normal water services. For more information click here.

Careel Shopping Village to go?

Council has exhibited DA2024/1091 to demolish the Careel Village shops at North Avalon and replace them with a co-located 60-place child-care centre on top of a Dan Murphy’s retail liquor outlet! This outrageous combination will share the site. The development seeks to replace a small scale local shopping centre comprising half a dozen food and other outlets with a site dominated by a large retail liquor chain. It is a gross over-development, out of character with the area, on flood prone land, and completely against current research relating to the exposure of youth to the  alcohol industry and the links between alcohol and domestic violence.  

Over 100 submissions were received by NBC, most opposing. APA has made a submission opposing this development, as has Jacqui Scruby MP, Member for Pittwater and North Sydney Local Health District. For a comprehensive submission by planning consultant Bill Tulloch on behalf of a nearby resident, see here.  The application has been referred to the Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel.

LATEST NEWS: February 2025 – The developer has appealed direct to the Land & Environment Court as a “deemed refusal” by NBC. This option is available after a number of days has passed with no decision. So the DA will circumvent the Local Planning Panel. Let’s hope the L&EC takes into serious consideration the extent of community opposition to this inappropriate DA.

Some local roads to get lower speed limit and traffic calming?

Northern Beaches Council is proposing to introduce a 30km/h speed limit in some sections of the north Avalon to Palm Beach localities, east of but not including Barrenjoey Road. Beach See the maps and more information on the NBC webpage here.

Council is also proposing to install new infrastructure, including “kerb build outs”, traffic calming devices, and new lower speed limit signs. It is also “looking to add a raised pedestrian crossing at Whale Beach Road, near the intersection with Barrenjoey Road, and new street lighting”.  A 10 kph zone on one block of Ocean Road south from Palm Beach Road to Ocean Place is also proposed.

A community drop-in session will be held on Saturday 9 November, 9am-11am at Avalon Recreation Centre. The opportunity to book a phone call with a traffic engineer is also now available.

The deadline for public submissions has now been extended to Sunday 24 November 2024. For more information and to make a submission, click here.

1112 Barrenjoey Road (former general store) onsite conference with Land & Environment Court

DA2023/1289 for shoptop housing at 1112-1116 Barrenjoey Rd Palm Beach (the former general store site) was refused approval by Council and is now before the Land and Environment Court (LEC). An onsite Conciliation Conference by the LEC was held on Wednesday 24 July 2024. Both objectors and supporters (apart from the developers) were heard by the Commissioner.  The community has indicated to the Court (as it did recently at 231 Whale Beach Road and 27 North Avalon Road) that there is major community concern with this type of development and that they are NOT in the public interest. 

UPDATE:

Following widespread negative community comment, the developer has now deleted the proposed fifth storey. APA, while pleased at the removal of the extra storey, remains opposed to the development as non-compliant and excessive in bulk, scale and height.

Report a pothole

The recent rainy weather is causing some havoc on our road surfaces with potholes emerging on many roads across the area. Potholes are repaired by either Council or NSW government teams depending on their location.

Council-managed roads 

Council manages the local roads that are not major arterial corridors. If the pothole is on a  Council-managed road please report it so NBC can make sure it’s on the works schedule.   To report a local road pothole click here.  

 State-managed roads

Major roads are managed by the NSW Government and they are responsible for their maintenance, including repairing potholes. To see a list of these and to report a pothole click here.

Have your say on development applications

Anyone can submit comments to Northern Beaches Council to support or oppose a development application. These comments are called ‘submissions’. You can make a submission on any type of development application that is released for public comment.

Click here for further information on how to make a DA submission.

 

Avalon Beach Bike Facility

More than 300 residents voted on your preferred location: Des Creagh Reserve or Avalon Beach Reserve. APA supports the Avalon Beach Reserve proposal, adjacent to the current skate board site. Comments closed Sunday 11 August.  

NBC are currently (February 2025) reviewing the large number of community votes and submissions.  For more information click here.

 

 

Modern architecture heritage study

The Council has received more than 100 community nominations of buildings from the Modernist period (ie post World War 2), that may be worthy of further investigation and possible heritage protection.

Nominations are being considered and potential property owners will be contacted.

NBC had a huge response to the call for nominations. It says that it has taken longer than expected to review and select a shortlist of priority properties for detailed heritage assessment. This detailed assessment process is currently underway and will be continuing over the next few months.

For further information click here. 

 

Osprey Nesting Platform, Avalon Beach

Proposed construction of a pilot artificial nesting platform at Hitchcock Park

Ospreys have successfully taken up artificial nesting platforms at other locations in northern NSW and interstate. However, to date an artificial nesting platform designed for the osprey has not been attempted within the Greater Sydney Region. NBC is proposing to be the first Sydney Council to install an artificial nesting habitat for ospreys and to monitor its success.  Click here for further information. 

27-29 North Avalon Road: Land and Environment Court hearing onsite

A conciliation conference took place on 29 and 30 April 2024 before a Commissioner of the Land and Environment Court over this seniors living development across two residential blocks. 

The onsite hearing took place at 9:30am Monday 29 April 2024 opposite the site. After the Commissioner inspected the site and heard oral evidence from residents, the remainder of the proceedings was heard at the Land and Environment Court in Sydney. An APA committee member was there to hear the objections of local residents, which centred on the developer attempting to put aside compliance conditions to improve senior’s access to shops and public transport.

UPDATE September 2024: The Court has granted approval for this development, including modifications requested by the developer,  to proceed.

 

Proposed changes to parking near Avalon Public School do not address safety

Council has proposed changes to parking durations in Old Barrenjoey Road near Avalon Public School. Its project, which you can see here.  The preamble states “We have received a number of safety concerns from local residents and Avalon Public School about street safety and its impact on children, parents, carers and local residents”.

STOP PRESS: The Traffic Committee at its June 2024 meeting accepted the NBC recommendations, which include the parking restrictions but not the pedestrian crossings.

Large numbers of mostly primary school aged pedestrians must cross both Sanders Lane and The Crescent opposite twice each day. Council’s project contains no suggestion of a pedestrian crossing across Sanders Lane or The Crescent.  This a critical concern left unaddressed in the NBC proposal.

How will this project improve road safety for school students walking to school?

The School has carried out a data collection study of the area – please read it here. Its priority is for pedestrian crossings to be installed across Sanders Lane and The Crescent, to warn drivers of pedestrian activity.

APA remains convinced, with the School, that pedestrian crossings are what is essentially required to properly improve the road safety for students. We understand that crossings are being considered in a separate project. Stay tuned.

Proposed NSW government housing changes

In 2023 the NSW Government proposed an initiative to change planning laws to allow more housing in the metropolitan Sydney area, including the northern beaches. These changes were originally proposed to apply uniformly across these areas with no allowance for local differences. APA strongly opposed this broad-brush treatment, as did NBC and most other councils. Senior council planning officers briefed a meeting on Monday 19 February 2024 at the Avalon Recreation Centre. APA has made a submission opposing this policy.

LATEST NEWS:  The second stage of the NSW Government’s Low and Mid-Rise policy will come into effect on Friday 28 February 2025. Under the new rules as proposed, Pittwater could have faced 6-7 storey 21m tall apartment towers in nearly all our villages, including Avalon Beach, Newport, Narrabeen and Warriewood. Member for Pittwater Jacqui Scruby MP argued successfully for an exclusion to this policy based on Pittwater’s geographical location, infrastructure constraints including limited road and bus transport, and the high flood and bushfire risks. Mona Vale, as a town centre, will still be liable for the new rules in its centre and also in residential zones within 800 metres walking distance.  For NSW Government information on the proposed changes click here. 

For a recent articles in Pittwater Online News click here and in Pittwater Living click here.

Avalon Shared Space

NBC has surveyed residents to gain their impression and preliminary opinion on making the changes permanent. Council originally imposed a deadline for responses of 30 April, which APA advised does not allow sufficient time for consideration. NBC agreed to extend the deadline to 1st October 2023, and it has now extended this date to 28 February, 2024 to take account of the summer season.  

A community session with Council staff (on-site) was held on 21 September 2023. APA queried Council on how many parking spaces were finally lost due to relocation of the pedestrian crossings. APA was originally told by NBC that only 9 would go, but this is was due to the pedestrian crossings only.  A further 9 spaces will be lost in the Village, plus those lost when Transport for NSW made unnanounced changes in Barrenjoey Road.

Council has now considered survey responses and submissions and, at a recent Council meeting, approved the trial to become permanent and for a design study to be carried out for exhibition, leading to improving the installation, subject to funding. 

Trailers & boats parked on streets 

In 2021 the NSW Government introduced new laws – the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act 2021 and regulations – that put accountability firmly on those responsible to do the right thing and remove their property quickly from public land.  These reforms were developed following widespread consultation with Councils, the public, industry groups, retailers, peak bodies and government agencies. The Act includes caravans, boat & other trailers, whether or not attached to a vehicle. The law forces owners to take responsibility for their vehicles and provides councils with stronger powers to rid our roads, footpaths, parks, bushland and waterways of abandoned and unattended property. 

The law commenced on 1 November 2022 and replaced the outdated Impounding Act 1993. Parking issues relating to trailers and boats should be reported to Council Rangers via Customer Service on 1300 434 434 for investigation.

Council’s Conservation Zone Review

Conservation Zones will form an integral part of the new Northern Beaches Council Local Environment Plan (LEP). APA made a submission regarding Council’s draft Conservation Zone review.  NBC referred submissions to the Dept of Planning which has (belatedly) replied that these zones should stay substantially as they are, so a victory for common sense!

Council has now finalised the Conservation Zones (C Zones) Review. This is based on final Department advice as well as extensive technical studies, community submissions, mapping accuracy review, and initial site visits.

Keep up to date via the LEP/DCP project page.

BACKGROUND

Conservation Zones C3 and C4, are important as they give local government and residents control over residential development in sensitive areas.  In contrast, areas zoned ‘Residential’ allow ‘Complying Developments’ to be built.  A ‘Complying Development’ does not need to be notified to the community and could compromise environmental values. Use the Councils online search tool to find out how the new zoning may affect you and your neighbours. 

CONCERNS with Council’s original draft review included:

–  the large number of properties to be transferred from Conservation Zones 4 and 3 (C4 and C3) zoning to ‘Residential’ zoning;

–  the low value or lack of value given to Biodiversity, Tree Canopy, Scenic Location, Cultural/Heritage and Risk (eg fire, flood, steepness); and

– the lack of definition of ‘Residential’ zone.

The NBC revisited its methodology and reworked the draft to take account of the 935 submissions, especially relating to wholesale rezonings from C4 to R2.  NBC’s discussions with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment regarding the methodology has resulted in agreement by the Department to retain zonings as is, a great result for the community.  See the NBC update here. See also the informative Pittwater online News articles here and here.

 Avalon place plan

NBC approved the Avalon Place Plan on 26 July 2022. The proposed terracing of Avalon Beach southern headland [draft p.74], which is currently a pleasant grassy headland behind the bus stop, will be revisited in the future with another “community consultation”.  This item is designated for implementation in the 5-10 year timeframe and will be investigated again prior to then. This overdesigned intrusion still has almost zero support in the community. The Council has deleted any cycle path, but plans to revisit the issue in the next year. In an article in the SMH of 25 July 2022 labels the APA Alternate Bike Plan as “undafe”, with no reasons or evidence given.  

Work on the shared streetspace in Old Barrenjoey Road north commenced in November 2022. For the NBC web page on this important issue click here; for the APA web page click here.

 

Avoid COVID-19 but stay connected to your friends and relations

Avalon Preservation Association advises members that COVID-19 is still with us. To help resist its spread, please wash your hands regularly, consider wearing a facemark at indoor venues and maintain physical distancing where appropriate.  It’s more important than ever to maintain your connection with friends and relatives.

The APA notice board

APA has a notice board in Avalon Beach Village. It is currently located on the southern wall between Terry White Chemmart (Herforts) and Belle Real Estate at 56 Old Barrenjoey Road (our thanks to both).  There is also a notice on the community noticeboard in Dunbar Park with a QR code to the website. Check the notice boards regularly to catch up with APA news in the Village, as we will change the contents regularly. We hope to have news re moving the noticeboard to a better location shortly.

Visit Current Issues & click on the Recent tab.

Check out our latest APA Bulletin here.

If you’re not an APA member already, why not make today the day you join the APA?

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