Northern Beaches residents are seeing the impact of the NSW government’s Low to Mid Rise (LMR) Housing Policy as multi-dwelling development applications are submitted for their quiet suburban streets.
Since the LMR policy came into effect in February 2025, close to 20 development applications, totalling almost 200 dwellings, have been submitted. While the policy’s aim is to diversify housing options for nine town centres across the Northern Beaches, it involves increased density and taller buildings on small suburban streets.
Residents, like those opposed to the 10 apartment development proposed for Lodge/Griffith Street in Balgowlah, have told Manly Observer they aren’t against development, but it’s the scale of the development that they take issue with.
“It would add 30 per cent more households to our cul-de-sac,” Lodge Street resident Beth explained.
“The excavation for the basement car park alone would equal two Olympic-size pools of sandstone removal.
“That’s 1,000 trucks on this street, which has cars parked on either side, and is used by school kids biking to school.
“The development would also see several trees removed, some native, and have apartment windows looking directly into neighbouring gardens.”
Council has not supported the DA at Lodge/Griffith Street (which had over 100 submissions against the development), outlining the need to consider neighbourhood character in developments and the concern that if approved in the development’s current form, it would set a precedent, and if mirrored on other sites, would produce unacceptable outcomes. Council has recommended halving the development to five units.
“The apartments are targeted at wealthy retirees, which we have nothing against, but as our demographic ages, what happens to our local schools whose enrollments are decreasing?” Lodge Street resident Beres asked.
Residents are still left anxious as developers appeal Council’s recommendations, as seen at 94 & 96 Park Street and 4 Kunari Place, Mona Vale, where the Land and Environment Court (LEC) upheld the appeal, approving 27 apartments.
“Because of the DA, one family sold their home, and another has put their place on the market,” Karen, a resident on Lodge Street said.
“Another single mum said she’d need to leave because she’s concerned about the impact on her health and her kids from the excavation dust.”
But we need affordable homes for our community…
There’s also the question of whether the LMR policy is increasing affordable housing, with only two of the 200 dwellings identified as affordable housing and many of the dwellings, either townhouses, apartments or units, described within the documents as luxury.
“Everyone recognises that housing affordability is a genuine crisis, and we need more homes built in the right places,” Member for Manly, James Griffin told Manly Observer.
“But what residents are experiencing under the Low to Mid Rise Housing Policy isn’t affordable housing but general concern about their changing local amenity and lack of infrastructure to support extra dwellings.”
Mr Griffin said that he and Michael Regan, Member for Wakehurst, and Jacqui Scruby, Member for Pittwater, were raising their concerns about the public transport system on the Northern Beaches with the NSW government.
“You can’t add thousands of new residents to a peninsula with two roads in and out and call it good planning,” he added.
Late last year, Northern Beaches Council voted to place a three per cent affordable housing contribution on all new residential development within the town centres. However, that initiative needs to be approved by the NSW Government, and there is the concern that a compulsory affordable housing contribution would deter developers from the Beaches as recently seen in Frenchs Forest.
Four years after the Frenchs Forest 2041 Place Strategy was adopted, the suburb has seen little residential building work despite DA approval for 239 apartments. Developers said Council’s compulsory affordable housing contributions made the projects unviable, and it was better for them to invest elsewhere in the city.
“What we need is a state government willing to do the hard work and care about all parts of the state,” Mr Griffin added.
“That means genuine affordable housing targets with teeth, infrastructure investment that matches the density it’s approving, and a planning framework that distinguishes between a luxury boutique apartment block and the kind of diverse, community-minded housing that a family on a teacher’s or nurse’s salary might actually afford.”
Catch up on the development news affected the Beaches:
Four years on from the Frenchs Forest Strategy… where are all the apartments?
