About one hundred Beaches residents, urban planners, experts and community leaders gathered on 26 February in Mona Vale Memorial Hall to explore local housing and development challenges and opportunities.
Hosted by The Better Cities Initiative, the What’s next for the Northern Beaches? forum provided a platform for open discussion on housing growth, affordability, sustainability, and how we can create more liveable and vibrant neighbourhoods.
Key themes and issues identified included a strong desire for approaches that reflect local needs, values and identity rather than top-down directives, affordable housing for young people and essential workers and climate resilience and environmental protection.
The forum closed with a poll revealing 85% support for a Citizens’ Assembly approach to addressing these major housing, planning and development challenges on the Northern Beaches.
Dr Elizabeth Farrelly, Founder and CEO of Better Cities Initiative, said the forum reinforced the appetite for a more community-driven approach to housing and development.
“The forum made it clear that locals want to be part of the solution,” said Dr Farrelly. “We believe a better future is possible, and the way to create that future is by eliciting a true community voice. A Citizens’ Assembly would make planning much less argumentative; it would create a genuine third voice to sit alongside government and developers.”
Speakers and attendees shared diverse perspectives on how the Northern Beaches and Sydney can manage growth while maintaining neighbourhood
What’s next? The Northern Beaches forum builds on the success of forums in Waverley and Ku-ring[1]gai, which garnered 80 and 90 per cent support, respectively, for a Citizens’ Assembly approach to housing and development.
The public forums are the first stage in a three-stage Citizens’ Assembly process that aims to culminate in a community-driven Local NSW Citizens’ Charter for Better Neighbourhoods, that can be a model for better, citizen-led urban planning.
To stay up to date on the work of The Better Cities Initiative in advancing citizen-led approaches, or to get involved, visit www.bettercities.org.au.