September 1 - 30, 2026: Issue 658

 

Motions to Rescind Passed Motions: Dogs On Beaches Near children-Wildlife + Community Voices via a Forum Restoration to Council Meetings

An Extraordinary Council Meeting has been scheduled on the council's YouTube channel for Tuesday September 22. Although not listed on the council meetings webpage, this may be when two Rescission Motions will be debated that are currently listed for the October 20 2026 Meeting.

At the September 15 2026 council meeting Councillors Vincent De Luca and Glanville tabled a Motion which was successfully passed. This was to restore the Public Forum and Community Engagement Forum to directly prior to council meetings.

Item 9.3 'Community Engagement Forum Trial' Resolved:

That Council:
1. Restore the Public Forum and Community Engagement Forum on the same evening as the Ordinary Council Meeting, immediately prior to the commencement of the formal Council meeting.
2. Commence the Public Forum at 5pm on items on the agenda, for a period of 40 minutes, followed immediately by 20 minutes for Community Engagement Forum.
3. Limit each speaker's address to 3 minutes.
4. Commence the Ordinary Council Meeting at 6.30pm and make the necessary revisions to other documentation relating to the start time of the council meeting and the forums for the remainder of the calendar year.

Voting for the Motion were: Cr Dillon, Cr Giltinan, Cr Bingham, Cr Singh, Cr De Luca, Cr Harvey, Cr Hrnjak and Cr Glanville (8)

Voting against was recorded as: Cr Robins, Cr Beaugeard, Cr Williams, Cr Hackman, Cr Grattan and Cr Heins (6).

Immediately after the meeting Cr.s Williams, Grattan and Hackman lodged a Notice of Motion to Rescind Council's Resolution made on 15 September 2026 in respect of item 9.3 - Community Engagement Forum.

Should the rescission motion be carried, notice has been given that the following be passed:

That:
1. Council continue holding a community engagement forum event once per month following the public forum.

2. Council adopt the following guidelines for whether a speaking request will be accepted: 

a. An individual can not speak in the community engagement forum if they have already spoken in public forum on the same evening.
b. An individual can only speak once in the community engagement forum on the same evening.
c. An individual can not speak on the same topic at the community engagement forum in the same 3-month period.
d. An individual must read out their speech in person and cannot assign their speaking registration to another person unless there are exceptional circumstances. 

A second Notice of Motion to rescind Council’s resolution in respect of Mona Vale Beach (south) Off-leash Dog Trial – Proposed Extension to the Trial Period, made at the 15 September 2026 Council meeting was received by the Chief Executive Officer from Cr.s Hrnjak, Harvey and Glanville.

Although the council had already recommended this proceed, despite their own 'engagement report' recording the stink of urine along the pathway leading to the beach, numerous instances of non-compliance, along with a sentiment in the community that the 'mostly just the old Warringah council is part of the problem' [that now sees 1. dogs offleash everywhere, 2. the death through a dog attack of a fairy penguin on Warriewood Beach, metres away and 3. a disbelief that it will take 12 months to compile a report on the first 12 months of the trial], Cr.s Robins, Singh,  Giltinan, De Luca, Dillon, Beaugeard, Williams, Hackman, Grattan and Heins voted to continue destroying the environment of this part of pristine Pittwater and keep putting all wildlife and children at risk.

This was the same site a child was attacked by a dog prior to the 'trial' commencing, in July 2022. Children are still being nipped by dogs while wandering down to their local pool for a swim in Summer (January 2026), with their owners, dubbed the 'entitled ones to whom the law and rules don't apply' by locals, verbally abusing their parents should they object.

The Dog Attack Statistics required to be sent into the NSW OLG for the whole of July 2025 to June 2026 have recently been made available and record the Northern Beaches Council is still recording more dog attacks than LGA's with 100 thousand more registered dogs. 

The total for 2025/2026 is 238.

In 2023-2024 this was 247 (73 recorded during the Jan-March Summer qtr.). In 2024-2025 the NBC LGA again had 247 ‘reported’ attacks (attacks recorded 73 in Oct. to Dec. 2024, 67 during the Jan to March qtr).

Central Coast Council, with 100 thousand more registered dogs, had 194 total attacks recorded from July 2025 through June 2026, 44 less than the NBC LGA data. Here again the Summer quarter was when the highest number of attacks were recorded, at 54 for that period – and a rise of 1000 dogs in that LGA over Summer, but still 10 less attacks than the 64 dog attacks that occurred here.

As residents have found council rangers require photographs of the attacking dog and/or medical records of injuries sustained, a further belief the Companion Animals Act definition of a dog attack may be being  ignored here as a reason to actually record an attack has taken place is also growing in the community.

That Act states;

Just because a dog is not on a lead in an off-leash area, or is secured in a cage or vehicle or is tethered to a fixed object or structure, does not mean that an offence under section 16 is not committed if the dog rushes at, attacks, bites, harasses or chases any person or animal, whether or not any injury is caused.

The Act further states:

Dogs prohibited in some public places
(1)  Dogs are prohibited in the following places (whether or not they are leashed or otherwise controlled)—
(a)  Children’s play areas (meaning any public place, or part of a public place, that is within 10 metres of any playing apparatus provided in that public place or part for the use of children).
(b)  Food preparation/consumption areas (meaning any public place, or part of a public place, that is within 10 metres of any apparatus provided in that public place or part for the preparation of food for human consumption or for the consumption of food by humans).
(c)  Recreation areas where dogs are prohibited (meaning any public place, or part of a public place, provided or set apart by a local authority for public recreation or the playing of organised games and in which the local authority has ordered that dogs are prohibited and in which, or near the boundaries of which, there are conspicuously exhibited by the local authority at reasonable intervals notices to the effect that dogs are prohibited in or on that public place or part).
(d)  Public bathing areas where dogs are prohibited (meaning any public place or any part of a public place that is used for or in conjunction with public bathing or public recreation (including a beach), in which the local authority has ordered that dogs are prohibited and in which, or near the boundaries of which, there are conspicuously exhibited by the local authority at reasonable intervals notices to the effect that dogs are prohibited in or on that public place).
(e)  School grounds (meaning any property occupied or used for a purpose connected with the conduct of a government school or non- government school under the Education Act 1990, other than any property used for a residence or the curtilage of a residence).
(f)  Child care centres (meaning any property occupied or used for a purpose connected with the conduct of an approved education and care service within the meaning of the Children (Education and Care Services) National Law (NSW) or the Children (Education and Care Services) Supplementary Provisions Act 2011, other than any property used for a residence or the curtilage of a residence).
(g)  Shopping areas where dogs are prohibited (meaning a shopping arcade or shopping complex, including any part of it that is used by the public for parking or access to shops, in which or part of which the local authority has ordered that dogs are prohibited and in which, or near the boundaries of which, there are conspicuously exhibited by the local authority at reasonable intervals notices to the effect that dogs are prohibited there). This paragraph does not apply to any shop or part of a shop.
(h)  Wildlife protection areas (meaning any public place or any part of a public place set apart by the local authority for the protection of wildlife and in which the local authority has ordered that dogs are prohibited for the purposes of the protection of wildlife and in which, or near the boundaries of which, there are conspicuously exhibited by the local authority at reasonable intervals notices to the effect that dogs are prohibited in or on that public place).

Crs Hrnjak, Harvey, and Glanville's Notice of Rescission 6 2026 - Item 11.1 Mona Vale Beach south includes the council Motion verses on  extending the 'trial' until October 2027 and that:

In the event the rescission motion is carried, the proposed alternate motion is:
That Council receive and note the report.

Pittwater Councillor Korzy, although currently on leave, sent in the following this week in regards to the growing instances of birds being impacted by the H5 bird flu:

“The offleash dog trial at South Mona Vale beach should end right now. 

The NSW government has advised pet owners to keep their dogs leashed and cats contained due to the arrival of bird flu.  
The council should not be making decisions contrary to that advice. 

HN5 on the Northern Beaches will change the nature of the current trial anyway.

It never had any criteria set up to test for its impact on wildlife - rather council staff were looking for the success of measures to ameliorate impacts. 

HN5 introduces a new variable that is likely to have a significant effect on local birds and mammals. 

This is a question of a potential crisis for wildlife and we must take as much pressure off it as possible at this time.” 

Brian, a Speaker at the September 8 2026 forum, speaking against the extension, stated:

''Thank you councillors for the opportunity. I speak to oppose the motion. As a regular visitor over decades to South Mona Vale Beach, commonly known as Cooks Terrace and elsewhere. My stance is guided purely by an abiding desire to protect the natural environment. Dog recreation is well catered for in this LGA and ocean beaches should remain prohibited due to the environment's sensitivity.

The reality of the impact of dogs is to exclude other beach users, most importantly native fauna.
The beaches is where the line should be drawn to set a clear expectation for dog owners.

Beyond the evidenced infringements on quiet enjoyment, interaction with seabird habitat is a primary consideration.

The documented death of an endangered little penguin by suspected dog attack at Warriewood metres from the trial area. One more death among a few remaining breeding pairs in the only mainland New South Wales colony should be reason enough to wait for the trial evaluation to conclude before extending access. The unwelcome appearance of the H5 bird virus subsequent to the REF update should be more than enough.

The peninsula has a sad history of indigenous fauna extinction. I specifically reference the koala populations of Scotland Island and Avalon, which were largely attributed to dog attacks. Will the current council oversee similar wilful ignorance?

The REF statements of ‘no significant impact’ and ‘not a known breeding area’ inspire little confidence. Meanwhile, the beach trial is a green light to non-compliant dog owners, of whom there are far too many, signalling that there are no effective prohibitions.

The absence of a full environmental impact statement is an abrogation of care.

Council is demonstrably failing to uphold current prohibitions on off leash dogs in public spaces. So, the pretence of managing sensitive environments such as this is a farce. Council would therefore be negligent in the extreme to extend this trial prior to evaluation.

Given the abundant evidence of negative impacts on local fauna and social amenity, there is no logical option other than to wait for the evaluation before deciding how to proceed.

Public opinion is clearly divided and council should not be persuaded by the loudest voices on social media. 

I stand with the penguins.''

Little Penguin  - photo by fir0002


Bird flu now on the Manly to Barrenjoey peninsula: September PON Issues Weeks Two, Three and Four

Bird flu is now spreading to other species in New South Wales, including the death of a myna bird at Berry this week. As this Issue goes to publication the NSW Government has advised a further 7 new H5 bird flu events were confirmed in terns found at Eden, Wallagoot, and Pambula on the Far South Coast, and Coledale in the Illawarra, and in silver gulls at Tathra and Edrom, as well as a sea eagle at Potato Point.

NSW has now recorded 52 H5 bird flu events.





Dog attacking formerly resting seal at Long Reef Aquatic Reserve in November 2020 - a No Dogs area, clearly signposted as such. Photo supplied