Manly Observer provides a weekly summary of development applications lodged with Northern Beaches Council in the last week.
Before we dive into local DAs, a note on changes to NSW’s development and planning system…
Sweeping reforms to NSW’s development and planning sector have come into effect after the Planning System Reforms Bill 2025 passed parliament in November 2025.
The NSW Government said the current Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act), which guides every decision about new and existing development, has become “complex and ill-equipped to meet modern challenges”. They’ve blamed the red tape on not enough homes being built in Sydney, pushing the city to the second least affordable city in the world.
The biggest change for Northern Beaches large-scale developments is the abolition of the Sydney North Planning Panel. This was an independent body which determined regionally significant development applications over $30 million in value. It was composed of state-appointed experts and council representatives, and DAs like the Manly Surf Club or Long Reef Golf Club would be determined at this level.
Instead, these applications will be sent to the Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel. This is a panel with four members: a chair with expertise in law, two professionals with expertise in urban design, planning or other related field and a community representative (you can view the full list of members here). Typically, DAs are escalated to NBLPP when a threshold number of submissions (10 or more) has been received, however, they will now also review large-scale development applications. This will most likely increase their workload, but a change that Council is happy with.
“We welcome the change to the planning panel system,” Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins told us.
“The Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel’s local knowledge will continue to support independent, high-quality decision-making by experienced experts and community representatives under robust governance processes.”
Another change coming is the creation of the Development Coordination Authority (DCA) which is currently on public exhibition, with the aim to become fully operational on 1 July 2026. The DCA will act as a single point of contact for all state government planning matters, consolidate all state agency advice and approval into one place, cut assessment timeframes down to a firm 28 days, and coordinate experts from different agencies to resolve conflicts quickly.
“There is nothing more frustrating for applicants than having their DA bounced from one department to another and then getting conflicting answers as to what they need to do,” Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said in a statement.
“It has often meant that a proponent gets to the front of one queue only to be told to join another one.
“Delivering a single front door for applicants and councils needing input from NSW Government agencies on local DAs will result in clear, consistent advice supporting better outcomes for NSW.”
For more information on the DCA, please go here.
A
141 Allambie Road, Allambie Heights – DA2026/0117
Exhibition Period: Not yet determined at time of publication
Cost of Work: $8,800
Installation of digital advertising signage.
506 Barrenjoey Road, Avalon Beach – DA2026/0094
Exhibition Period: 12/02/2026 to 26/02/2026
Cost of Work: $148,500
Alterations and additions to a house, including a swimming pool and a spa.
B
37 Roseberry Street, Balgowlah – DA2025/0132
Exhibition Period: 22/05/2025 to 05/06/2025
Cost of Work: $3,919,072
McDonald’s has appealed the refusal of the application for a Maccas in Balgowlah at the Land and Environment Court (LEC).
In February 2025, the fast food chain lodged a $4 million DA with Northern Beaches Council to construct a 24 hours a day, seven days a week restaurant, including a 15-car drive-thru and a 26-space car park. After fierce backlash from the community, the DA was amended to address concerns around signage, operating hours (reduction from 24/7 to 5am to midnight, seven days a week), and traffic mitigation. The community continued to voice concerns around traffic congestion and anti-social behaviour, which was echoed by local police.
Community members took to creating a Facebook group and an online petition attracted over 4,000 signatures against the development.
On 2 July 2025, the Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel (NBLPP), with 740 submissions (with only two in support of the DA), unanimously refused the development application at 37 Roseberry Street, Balgowlah (where Seven Miles Coffee is currently located).
Residents were informed by Northern Beaches Council’s legal firm, Wilshire, Webb, Staunton, Beattie of the appeal and that the hearing will take place at 9:30am on 28 May 2026 onsite.
Community members can provide further evidence to the Court by written submission or can register to address the Court orally onsite by 5pm, 21 May 2026. Please contact Council at Council@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au quoting the application number.
Here’s our archive video on the bid
521 Sydney Road, Balgowlah – DA2026/0104
Exhibition Period: Not yet determined at time of publication
Cost of Work: $187,000
Alterations and additions to an existing dwelling.
C
10 Acacia Street, Collaroy Plateau – DA2026/0072
Exhibition Period: 10/02/2026 to 24/02/2026
Cost of Work: $14,466
Alterations and additions to a house.
170 South Creek Road, Cromer – DA2026/0105
Exhibition Period: 13/02/2026 to 27/02/2026
Cost of Work: $501,600
Alterations and additions to an industrial building.
8A Strickland Avenue, Cromer – DA2026/0099
Exhibition Period: 12/02/2026 to 26/02/2026
Cost of Work: $56,980
Construction of a swimming pool and associated works.
30 Farnell Street, Curl Curl – DA2026/0065
Exhibition Period: 11/02/2026 to 25/02/2026
Cost of Work: $121,307
Alterations and additions to a house.
F
14 Bolingbroke Parade, Fairlight – DA2026/0080
Exhibition Period: 12/02/2026 to 26/02/2026
Cost of Work: $248,600
Alterations and additions to a house, including a garage.
3 Darley Street, 721 & 721A Warringah Road, Forestville – DA2026/0085
Exhibition Period: 12/02/2026 to 26/02/2026
Cost of Work: $4,978,676
The proposal is to combine three lots into one and construct 12 townhouses. There will be seven two-bedroom townhouses and five four-bedroom townhouses. Each townhouse will have ground-level courtyards and balconies.
There will be a total of 19 car parking spaces with seven allocated to the two-bedroom townhouses and 12 allocated to the four-bedroom townhouses. There will also be two visitor parking spaces and 13 bicycle parking spaces.
The site is zoned as R2 Low Density Residential with a maximum building height of 8.5 metres. However, as it falls within 400m of the State-identified Forestville Town Centre, it has a maximum allowed height of 9.5 metres, which all the buildings fall within.
I
37 Ingleside Road, Ingleside – DA2026/0076
Exhibition Period: 13/02/2026 to 27/02/2026
Cost of Work: $1,372,029
Demolition works and construction of a house.
M
43 Eurobin Avenue, Manly – DA2026/0086
Exhibition Period: Not yet determined at time of publication
Cost of Work: $301,400
Alterations and additions to a house.
1 & 2, 43 Osborne Road, Manly – DA2026/0078
Exhibition Period: 12/02/2026 to 26/02/2026
Cost of Work: $2,970,000
Demolition works, construction of a dual occupancy including swimming pools and strata subdivision.
29 – 33 Pittwater Road, Manly – DA2026/0063
Exhibition Period: 11/02/2026 to 25/02/2026
Cost of Work: $13,200
The proposal is for a change of use of the offices on the third floor of the existing building to residential apartments.
Physical changes to the existing building are minor, being confined to the addition of privacy screens between the proposed apartment in the north facing terrace. The privacy screens taper down to the existing parapet wall and will not be visible from street level. The proposed change of use from commercial to residential provides shop top housing which is permissible with development consent in the E1 Local Centre Zone.
66 Bassett Street, Mona Vale – DA2026/0113
Exhibition Period: Not yet determined at time of publication
Cost of Work: $436,125
Demolition works and the construction of a garage and secondary dwelling.
6 Brinawa Street, Mona Vale – DA2026/0083
Exhibition Period: 13/02/2026 to 27/02/2026
Cost of Work: $5,500
Subdivision of one lot into two (Torrens Title).
17 Brinawa Street, Mona Vale – DA2026/0101
Exhibition Period: Not yet determined at time of publication
Cost of Work: $901,214
Alterations and additions to an existing house and use of space as an attached secondary dwelling.
N
7 Burilla Avenue, North Curl Curl – DA2026/0114
Exhibition Period: Not yet determined at time of publication
Cost of Work: $120,000
Construction of a secondary dwelling.
137 Garden Street, North Narrabeen – DA2026/0047
Exhibition Period: 11/02/2026 to 25/02/2026
Cost of Work: $0
Change of use of garage to an office and gym, use of existing structure as a secondary dwelling.
O
Queenwood School Sporting Facilities, 1100 Oxford Falls Road, Oxford Falls – SSD-73688210
Exhibition Period: 04/02/2026 to 03/03/2026
Cost of Work: over $20 million
The State Significant Development proposes a new school sport and recreation facility for Queenwood School for Girls (as the main campus does not have the type of facilities proposed for the site). The facilities will also be open to the public subject to future arrangements with community sporting groups.
The proposal seeks a change of use from a residential dwelling to an educational establishment, excavation for a single basement level, construction of a two-court indoor multipurpose hall that can accommodate basketball and netball on top of the underground parking area plus amenities like change rooms, construction of an elevated ramp connecting the indoor sports hall to the outdoor multipurpose pitch, construction of an outdoor multipurpose synthetic turf surface pitch which can accommodate hockey, soccer and 12 tennis courts.
Hours of operation will be Monday to Friday: 7:00am – 9:30pm, Saturday: 7:00am – 9:00pm, and Sunday: 8:00am – 8:00pm. Use of the site by Queenwood is expected to occur during normal teaching hours, with before and after school training sessions on weekdays and school sport/competition on Saturdays.
The project is not intended to be staged.
S
22 Edgecliffe Esplanade, Seaforth – DA2026/0069
Exhibition Period: 12/02/2026 to 26/02/2026
Cost of Work: $2,777,056
Alterations and additions to a house, including a swimming pool.
W
23 Raven Circuit, Warriewood – DA2026/0095
Exhibition Period: 12/02/2026 to 26/02/2026
Cost of Work: $528,000
Construction of a house.
Determined
Uniting Wesley Gardens Belrose, 2B Morgan Road, Belrose – SSD-71378958
Cost of Work: $200 million
Determined: 05/02/2026
Determination Level: State Significant Development
The State Significant Development Application was approved to demolish the existing site and replace it with six buildings between three to five storeys in height. The new development will include 147 independent living apartments in a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom layouts; a new 120-place residential aged care home with specific areas for those living with dementia; health and wellbeing facilities; a Men’s Shed and integrated outdoor areas for recreation, respite and social connection.
The determination found that the project would provide up to 238 construction jobs and 109 operational jobs. It also found that the concerns raised by the community and Council, around exceeding height limits, scale and bulk, and bushfire risk were addressed within the application and the benefit to the community was in the public’s interest.
“The needs of people in the Northern Beaches, where over-70s make up 13.4 per cent of the population, are evolving,” Uniting NSW.ACT Director of Property and Housing, Simon Furness said in a statement.
“This figure is even higher in Belrose at 21.9 per cent, so quality housing options and services for seniors in the area are critical.
“Recent research from The Catalyst Report also found 40 per cent of people identified staying in a familiar area as a key benefit of moving into independent living. We know residents want a voice in their care choices when it’s needed, so our development pipeline is focused on contemporary, purpose-built housing co-located with in-home support and aged care solutions that meet this demand.”
Uniting’s onsite early learning centre, The Forest Preschool, the Belrose Uniting Church, and a dwelling on the site will remain unchanged.
For more information on the development, check out our earlier coverage here.
2A Allen Avenue, Bilgola Plateau – DA2024/1708
Cost of Work: $4,264,221
Determined: 22/01/2026
Determination Level: Land and Environment Court
The application to demolish the existing 70-year-old residence for a new three-level plus basement home with a swimming pool and tennis court was approved by the Land and Environment Court (LEC) .
Over 60 submissions against the development were received by Council complaining about bulk and height of the proposed development, as well as, not fitting in with the local character of the suburb. Council rejected the application submitted by Mark Bradshaw, the property owner who reported to be the global head of Macquarie Infrastructure and Energy, based in London.
There were concerns the building exceeded the height limits of 8.5m or two storeys; however, this is on some parts of the heights level (30-790mm) and it was pointed out that Council had recently approved a three-storey building in the same street.
Local residents have gathered 500 signatures for a petition urging Council to appeal the LEC decision.
14 Aquatic Drive, Frenchs Forest – DA2025/0533
Cost of Work: $69,476,000
Determined: 04/02/2026
Determination Level: Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel
The Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel (NBLPP) unanimously approved the construction of self-storage units and a warehouse.
The proposed development comprises construction of a three-storey building comprising:
- demolition of existing buildings and structures on the site
- 153 self-storage units at ground floor and Level 1
- 72 warehouse units on Levels 1 and 2
- 123 car parking spaces across all levels
- outdoor breakout spaces for staff at ground floor and Level 2
- shared lobby across all levels
- landscaping; and
- associated infrastructure/servicing works.
Please note
While every effort has been made to accurately represent the development applications, we recommend clicking the link (the DA number in the heading) which will take you to the relevant council page with detailed information.
Where exhibition periods have not yet been determined at the time of publication, Council is still gathering the required documention needed before notifying relevant parties. Once the exhibition period opens, there will be a link on the DA page for submissions – please refrain from submitting prior to this link becoming available.
Determinations on large scale development projects can be found at the bottom of the article.
Catch up on the local development news:
A new swim centre proposed for Freshwater and more in this week’s Development Application Round Up
