The SOS Save Our Suburb Mona Vale Inc., a resident action group of Pittwater, has released the findings of a comprehensive twelvemonth community investigation, formally demanding an immediate statutory moratorium on the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy across the Pittwater electorate north of Narrabeen Lagoon.
The findings, compiled into a technical evidentiary dossier, were delivered to Jacqui Scruby MP, Independent Member for Pittwater, during a grassroots mobilisation rally at NSW Parliament House on Wednesday, 21 October 2026 at noon.
The brief outlines four non-negotiable structural constraints proving the Pittwater Peninsula cannot safely absorb the State Government’s mandated multi-storey blanket upzoning or associated State Significant Development (SSD) pathways.
Key Evidentiary Findings Include:
• Wastewater and Coastal Health Failures: The Warriewood Wastewater Treatment Plant currently operates beyond its baseline equivalent population capacity. During heavy rain, hydraulic inundation overwhelms the bypass storage in one to two hours, discharging partially treated effluent straight into the recreational surf zones of Turimetta Head.
• Life Safety and Evacuation Gridlock: The Pittwater peninsula is a geographic cul-de-sac hemmed in by continuous national park reserves and the sea. Imposing multi-storey density onto a single, two-lane arterial road serving more than 35,000 residents— directly breaches the intent of Section 9.1 Planning Direction 4.3 and ignores the findings of the 1994 Hiatt Coronial Inquiry.
• The Rapid Transit Myth: Mona Vale was included in the policy on the premise of being serviced by "rapid transit," despite the B-Line operating in mixed tra5ic and being throttled by physical pinch points at the Spit Bridge and Military Road. Region 8 bus cancellations account for nearly 30% of all bus cancellations across Greater Sydney.
• The Affordable Housing "Luxury Loophole": A 30% discounted rent on a luxury newbuild apartment in Mona Vale still consumes over 53% of an entry-level registered nurse’s take-home pay. Dual-income essential worker couples are legally disqualified by statutory income caps, meaning the policy extracts developer margins while delivering zero long-term social dividend.
Convenor, John David said, ‘'This dossier has been prepared following the admission by Paul Scully, the Minister for Planning and Open Spaces that a detailed study of Mona Vale’ s ability to safely sustain higher density was not conducted before it was re-zoned’
‘The government has not done their homework, so we have done it for them.’ said Mr David
SOS Save Our Suburb Mona Vale's John David speaking at the rally on Macquarie street
Angus Gordon OAM and former Pittwater Council General Manager noted 'Imposing multi-storey apartments on an overloaded 1970s cliff-face sewage outfall and a single two-lane bushfire evacuation route violates basic statutory protections and risks lives’
‘Good planning requires that infrastructure precede population growth.' Mr Gordon said.
The community is calling on Premier Chris Minns and Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, to halt the application of Chapter 6 of the Housing SEPP until an independent, cumulative Infrastructure Capability and Emergency Evacuation Audit is formally tabled in the NSW Parliament.
A delegation of over 100 residents formally handed over the dossier on Wednesday.
Independent MP for Pittwater Jacqui Scruby accepted the dossier.
The rally heard from coastal engineer Angus Gordon OAM, a former General Manager of Pittwater Council; veteran campaigners Parry Thomas, and Shane Withington, as well as many other residents taking up the megaphone. Affordable Forever and Mosman Matters community members were also in attendance and in support of sensible housing reform, as was Greens Pittwater Councillor Miranda Korzy.
All Members of Parliament were invited to the event, but from the Legislative Assemble, only those who voted against the bipartisan planning reforms addressed the crowd including Jacqui Scruby MP, Member for Wakehurst, Michael Regan, Member for Balmain, Kobi Shetty. Sue Higginson MLC and the Hon. Rachel Merton MLC from the Legislative Council also addressed the crowd.
SOS Save Our Suburb Mona Vale, Affordable Forever and Mosman Matters members taking it to Macquarie street
Ms Scruby and others called out the Opposition’s failure to oppose the planning reforms, and denounced the low and mid-rise and Housing Delivery Authority as ‘development at any cost,’ which overrides strategic planning and community voice.
Following the rally, Ms Scruby presented the dossier to Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and Public Spaces, Mr Stephen Bali MP, who sat down with Messrs David, Gordon and Thomas, and listened to the group’s concerns.
Earlier in the day, Ms Scruby gave a Notice of Motion condemning the Housing Delivery Authority and inappropriate mid and high-rise development in her electorate, calling on the Minns Labor Government to introduce a moratorium.
Ms Scruby said on Wednesday:
“Political pressure comes from community pressure. Today, Pittwater locals took their concerns directly to the steps of NSW Parliament, making it clear that they will not stand by whilst these bipartisan planning reforms turn on the taps for developers at the expense of our community.
“Just as they did on the floor of Parliament when they voted for these reforms, Liberal and Labor MPs declined the opportunity to hear directly from the people affected by them.
“While those MPs remained inside Parliament House, community representatives and the MPs who continue to stand up against these reforms made their voices heard. Michael Regan, Member for Wakehurst, Kobi Shetty, Member for Balmain, and Sue Higginson MLC, continue to be important voices challenging NSW’s developer-led planning agenda.
“Development cannot be a ‘let it rip’ exercise. Mona Vale and the wider Pittwater area face very real constraints, including major roads that can be cut off by flooding and bushfires, an already dysfunctional transport system, and wastewater infrastructure limitations.”
Former Pittwater Council General Manager Angus Gordon OAM, a coastal management and environment engineer, spoke at the Protest outside Parliament on Wednesday on the development constraints, saying more people would overwhelm water, sewerage and transport infrastructure.
“It is not planning if you have planning without infrastructure.
It’s not simply incompetence; it’s irresponsible because at some point in time in the future, it’s going to have to be picked up and paid for by somebody.
“If you go back to the 1994 bushfires, we lost over 30 houses in Elanora [Heights], and we lost them because there wasn’t the water supply. Well, guess what? Sydney Water hasn’t upgraded the water supply, and yet the density has increased, and now they’re proposing greater increases,” Mr Gordon said
Private Members Statement: Pittwater Electorate Development
The following day, October 22, the Independent MP for Pittwater said in the NSW Parliament's chamber:
I speak on the Government's developer-led reforms, including the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, the Housing Delivery Authority, State significant developments [SSDs] and uplifts for developers, which will fail to provide affordable housing. Yesterday, over 110 residents with SOS Save Our Suburb Mona Vale peacefully rallied outside Parliament before providing a comprehensive dossier to the member for Blacktown, the Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and Public Spaces, backed by more than 2,500 local signatories. This dossier is the result of over 12 months of rigorous technical investigation advised by leading specialists, including coastal engineer Angus Gordon, OAM, former Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins, AO, AFSM, and urban planning experts. It mirrors and provides more details on some of the arguments and submissions I have put to the Minister, particularly in my first meeting with him upon being elected.
On behalf of members of my community in Pittwater, I call for an immediate statutory moratorium on the application of the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, the Housing Delivery Authority and residential State significant development pathways until an independent cumulative infrastructure capability and emergency evacuation audit is undertaken. This is prudent planning for a bushfire- and flood-prone region that has one road in and one road out. Consider the physical reality of the Barrenjoey peninsula. Over 35,000 residents north of Mona Vale depend on a single two-lane arterial road, Barrenjoey Road, to evacuate south. The 1996 Hiatt coronial inquiry into the deadly 1994 bushfires explicitly warned that coastal peninsulas bordered by continuous national parks become lethal traps when a single arterial road fails. Densifying Mona Vale without secondary egress directly contravenes section 9.1 of Local Planning Direction 4.3 and the binding principles of the 2019 Planning for Bush Fire Protection guide.
Fire seasons are now 21 per cent longer. This summer, unusually hot temperatures, combined with an increased baseline due to climate change, could increase the risk of flash droughts and catastrophic bushfires. There has already been a bushfire warning in the region this season. If a catastrophic bushfire emerges from Ku‑ring-gai Chase National Park while Mona Vale Road is closed—as it was during the 1994 bushfires—and Pittwater Road and Wakehurst Parkway are choked, the community will have no viable road for escape. That was seen during the Los Angeles fires, where people literally had to leave their vehicles as the fires spread because of gridlock.
There are also infrastructure constraints. Warriewood Wastewater Treatment Plant currently discharges through an 80-metre cliff-face pipe off Turimetta Head into the intertidal surf zone, rather than through an ocean outfall. That is where locals swim and surf. The plant already operates beyond its designed baseline capacity of 65,000 persons. In heavy rain, partially treated effluent is discharged into the break zones. With respect to the area's transport network, there has recently been a bus crisis, with 43 bendy buses off the road. There have also been chronic driver shortages, and services have been axed. The B-Line is the only frequent transport option available to people, yet region eight accounts for nearly 30 per cent of all bus cancellations across Greater Sydney. The Wakehurst Parkway continually floods when it rains and is therefore closed, and Mona Vale Road is a bottleneck. Whilst those projects are progressing, it will be many years before Pittwater residents finally get to see those benefits.
There is also the affordable housing myth or loophole. The uplift provided to developers will fail to provide affordable housing, especially in areas such as Pittwater. In Mona Vale, where a two-bedroom apartment rents for $1,000 a week, a 30 per cent discounted rent is $665 a week. That rent consumes 53 per cent of a first-year registered nurse's take-home pay, throwing them into rental stress. If a nurse and a police officer applied together, their combined award wages would be too high and disqualify them, leaving them with unaffordable housing. I also refer the House to the answer to my question on notice No. 5019 on 11 June 2025.
Whilst the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure undertook a multi-criteria analysis to identify appropriate locations that were well supported by shops, amenities, public transport and infrastructure for the Low and Mid‑Rise Housing Policy, that was only a high-level feasibility test. For an area like Pittwater, we need more detailed analysis, particularly of bushfire risk. My electorate is calling for action. I thank John David, convenor of Save Our Suburb Mona Vale, and all the residents who are calling out this policy failure. I call on the Government for a statutory moratorium for Pittwater.
See: Affordable Housing In Mona Vale More an Uplift in Grift than a Home Solution, July 2026 report
Mona Vale SSD now 14 Storeys: 48.75m Metres Tall for 285 units for around 600 occupants
On Friday October 23 the Department of Planning sent out an email advising it has received a request (Oct. 22) to prepare the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) for the 'Residential Flat Building Mona Vale (was SSD-129265241).
The new webpage (Oct 22 2026 now SSD-150586490) Scoping report document states the build will be up to 14 storeys with a height of 48.75 metres for 285 units comprising 57x 1bedrooms, 157x 2bed and 71x 3+ bedrooms for 415 occupants.
However, if all bedrooms are used, these figures add up to at least 584 occupants and the potential for the same amount of cars.
Access to an undefined as yet amount of basement (excavated) car parking will be accessed via Vineyard street according to the proponents Scoping report.
The document states approximately 43 units would be delivered as affordable housing for a minimum period of 15 years.
The units are arranged across two (2) fourteen (14) storey buildings addressing Mona Vale Road to the north, being the East and West Buildings, and a seven (7) storey building addressing Vineyard Street to the south.
This proposal was originally(SSD-129265241) for a Residential flat building containing 185 units, inclusive of 40 infill affordable dwellings (for a minimum of 15 years) on land at 6, 8, 8A, 10, 10A, 12, 12A and 14 Mona Vale Road and 8 and 10 Vineyard Street, Mona Vale, has already been welcomed by the state government. The proposal then was for a Building Height of 37.55m - 40.70m, with Eight (8) to twelve (12) storeys and a development listing 43 x1 bed 43 23%, 94 x 2 bed and 48 x 3+ bedroom units.
The Scoping document states this is ''prioritising dwelling types suited to downsizers, key workers, smaller households, younger residents seeking to remain in the area and people from broader Sydney looking to enter into the housing market.''
However, the increase of 3 'affordable' units and an extra 100 units overall, along with an increase in height of 8 metres, speaks to what residents of Mona Vale have already pointed out; that any Affordable Housing In Mona Vale is more an Uplift in Grift than a Home Solution due to DA's under the SSD schemes being doubled and vast height increases for units which will still be out of reach financially, even as rentals, for the majority of Sydneysiders.
Despite the government's low to mid housing policy, which allows a maximum of 6 storeys and a maximum height of 22 metres in R3 zones, developers are leveraging the NSW Infill Affordable Housing Legislation, which allows an extra 30% floor area and 30% height if 10-15% of units are built as 'affordable' and kept as such for 15 years, to lodge proposals with the government and the council that increase profit margins and more than double storey and height limits.
The new Scoping Report (SSD-150586490) states the NSW Government's Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) has advised the proponents that the proposal involves a significant height variation, proposing a total height of 48.9m where the current height of building control is 22m, and that the project will require refinement in consultation with the DPHI through the merit assessment process.
The HDA further advised the proponents that affordable housing would generally be provided proportional to the uplift sought, with feasibility as a guiding principle, and that the Proponent is to provide analysis supporting its proposed approach as part of the merit assessment. The Proponent will prepare this analysis to accompany the EIS.
As recorded by the HDA, the proposed development would be accompanied by a concurrent Planning Proposal (PP) to amend PLEP2014 in respect of the development standards applicable to the Site. The PP would not seek to alter the R3 zoning or the land use table, the proposed development being permissible in the zone under the government's low-to mid-rise housing changes. The proponents have requested that the documentation required for the concurrent PP be issued together with the SEARs.
A further SSD at Elimatta Road Mona Vale also being progressed, 1.7 to 2km outside the town centre '400m to 800m from a trasnport station/centre', and in a low-density zone, indicates the free-for-all developer-led planning has become, where even the government's own new rules can be tossed aside. This would tell its own departments may allow a canyon of concrete right along Pittwater and Barrenjoey roads.
Details of that SSD are:
SSD: Residential Flat Building: 45-47 Elimatta Road and 1667-1671 Pittwater Road Mona Vale
- Site description
- Local context
- Proposed development
- Construction of an approximately three to seven storey residential flat building, comprising approximately 118 dwellings including the provision of 5% affordable housing in perpetuity
- Multi-level basement parking (3 levels).
- Rezone the site from R2 Low Density Residential to R3 Medium Density Residential; and
- Increase the maximum height of building to approximately 22m (7 storeys).
