The Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council (MLALC) withdrew its plans to rezone bushland at Patyegarang, Belrose, formerly known as Lizard Rock, for 450 homes, ending four-years of community opposition to the proposal.
Wakehurst MP Michael Regan revealed in a statement that the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) had confirmed the withdrawal.
“The rezoning proposal was reckless in the extreme,” Mr Regan said.
“It would have created a bushfire trap for future residents, put firefighters at risk and destroyed over 45 rugby fields of local bushland with important biodiversity values.”
Land Council silent
Manly Observer put questions to MLALC about why it had withdrawn the proposal and what it now planned for the 71-hectare Morgan Road site.
“We make no comment on this matter,” a spokesperson said.
Mr Regan believes MLALC couldn’t get the Rural Fire Service (RFS) to sign off on a development of the scale it wanted.
“The withdrawal tells us that the Land Council couldn’t get the Rural Fire Service to agree to a proposal at the scale they wanted,” he said.
A spokesperson for DPHI confirmed MLALC had asked to withdraw the proposal, saying the Land Council intended to “focus on other projects in the short term”.
DPHI spent several months working with MLALC and the RFS to resolve outstanding bushfire concerns, after the Sydney North Planning Panel (SNPP) resolved in December 2024 that the proposal could proceed once those matters, and an appropriate zoning for the residential portion of the site, were sorted out.
MLALC formally asked the Department to withdraw the proposal on 1 July 2026.
What happens now?
The long-term future of the Patyegarang site remains an open question. Despite Manly Observer asking, MLALC has not indicated what, if anything, it plans for the land.
Mr Regan said that uncertainty was cause for continued vigilance.
“I would have preferred the Sydney North Planning Panel to formally reject the proposal on its merits,” he said.
“Withdrawal does not permanently protect the site, and we do not yet know what the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council may propose next.”
He said he would seek transparency around any RFS advice given on the project.
“This is not public right now, and I believe it should be,” he added.
Council welcomes the outcome
Northern Beaches Council welcomed the withdrawal, which it said followed years of community concern about bushfire risk, environmental impacts and the loss of bushland.
Mayor Sue Heins said the proposal presented serious risks that Council had opposed from the outset.
“This particular proposal presented serious risks and impacts, including the loss of around 45 football fields of bushland and the construction of hundreds of homes in a high bushfire risk area,” Mayor Heins said.
She said Council supported the broader intent of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act and the ability of Aboriginal people to achieve economic self-determination, but that this particular plan wasn’t the way to do it.
Mayor Heins thanked the community and Mr Regan for their advocacy, and said Council remained open to working with MLALC and other levels of government to find an alternative path forward for the land.
“We continue to believe there is a better way forward that recognises the rights and aspirations of Aboriginal landowners while protecting this high-value bushland from inappropriate development,” she said.
Background
The Patyegarang planning proposal sought to rezone 71 hectares of MLALC-owned land on Morgan Road, Belrose, for a 450-lot residential subdivision and cultural centre in native bushland. The Sydney North Planning Panel approved the proposal for Gateway Determination in June 2023, and it went on public exhibition between September and November that year, attracting more than 1,300 pages of community submissions.
Northern Beaches Council formally opposed the rezoning throughout the process, citing the loss of bushland and unresolved bushfire evacuation and access concerns, along with inconsistency with local and regional planning strategies and Council’s Conservation Zones Review.
Community coalition Northern Beaches Envirolink also campaigned against the proposal, raising concerns about impacts on flora and fauna, Aboriginal cultural heritage, bushfire risk and infrastructure. A petition opposing the development, organised by the Bushland Guardians, gathered more than 12,000 signatures and was presented to NSW Parliament in 2023.
The Department extended the proposal’s Gateway determination to 31 March 2025 in July 2024, before the Planning Panel’s December 2024 decision made further progress conditional on resolving bushfire matters with the RFS. That resolution never came, and MLALC’s July 2026 withdrawal request has now formally ended the process, with the Department amending the Gateway determination so the proposal will not proceed.
