Dee Why is set to host music, food and family activities this July as the Northern Beaches Oceana Fun Festival comes to James Meehan Reserve on Clyde Road.
The free community event will be held on Saturday, 25 July 2026, from 12 pm to 6 pm, offering locals a chance to enjoy the sights, sounds and flavours of the Pacific and Oceania in Dee Why.
A day for families, culture and connection
The festival is designed as a welcoming day out for all ages, with a program that celebrates the rich cultures, traditions and communities that make up Oceania.
Visitors can expect cultural performances, live entertainment, food vendors, artisan market stalls, children’s activities, community showcases and interactive experiences throughout the afternoon.
For Dee Why families, the event offers a local afternoon of children’s activities, food, music, dance and cultural traditions from the Pacific region.
Supporting local businesses and performers
Beyond the entertainment, the Oceana Fun Festival also aims to support local small businesses, performers, food vendors, market stallholders and community groups.
Organisers hope the event will help strengthen community connections, encourage cultural understanding and bring more visitors into Dee Why, supporting the local economy along the way.
Photo Credit: Google Map
With its mix of food, arts, music and family-friendly activities, the festival is also intended to create opportunities for youth, performers, community groups and cultural organisations.
An inclusive community celebration
Partially funded through the Northern Beaches Council Event Grants and Sponsorship Program, the festival aims to become an annual celebration for the area.
For locals, it offers a chance to gather, celebrate cultural diversity and enjoy a community event at James Meehan Reserve.
The Northern Beaches Oceana Fun Festival is free to attend and open to the whole community. Families, friends and neighbours are encouraged to come along, support local stallholders and enjoy a celebration of Oceania’s cultures, food, music and traditions.
A Dee Why bus stop assault on Saturday night has left a young woman injured and a teenage boy in police custody, after a confrontation at one of the suburb’s busiest transit points escalated into physical violence.
Just before 9.45pm on 4 July, NSW Police were called to the northbound B-Line bus stop on Pittwater Road — a stop located just metres from Dee Why Police Station on St David Avenue. Officers from the Northern Beaches Police Area Command were on scene quickly and were told that a 17-year-old male had allegedly assaulted a 27-year-old woman.
According to witnesses who spoke with the Northern Beaches Advocate, the trouble started among people getting off a bus. A verbal argument broke out and then took a violent turn, with the teenager allegedly throwing the woman to the ground.
The woman suffered minor cuts to her face but declined further medical treatment at the scene. It is understood she was with at least a couple of people she knew when the incident occurred. The teenager and the woman are not believed to have known one another beforehand, and observers at the scene indicated that alcohol may have been a factor.
Police arrested the boy and took him to Manly Police Station, where he continued to assist with inquiries. A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed the matter remains under investigation and that no charges have been laid at this stage.
The area around the bus stop is understood to be well covered by CCTV, which police will review as part of their investigation. Depending on what the footage shows, officers may consider charges including assault occasioning actual bodily harm under Section 59 of the NSW Crimes Act — which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment — or the more serious charge of affray under Section 93C, which carries a maximum of ten years. The affray charge is generally applied where conduct in a public place would cause a reasonable person present to fear for their safety.
Because the alleged offender is 17, any action taken against him would be handled within the framework of the NSW Young Offenders Act 1997. That legislation covers young people aged between 10 and 17 and recognises that they should not be treated the same as adults when they break the law. Among its guiding principles is that the least restrictive form of sanction should be applied, and that criminal proceedings should not be commenced against a child if there is an alternative and appropriate means of dealing with the matter. Under the Act, police may divert a young offender away from court through a warning, a caution, or a referral to a youth justice conference — but only if the young person has admitted the offence and consented to diversion, and if they are eligible for it. Whether any of those pathways apply will depend on the evidence gathered and the seriousness with which police ultimately view the alleged conduct.
The B-Line stop at Dee Why is one of nine stops on the B1 route, which runs between Mona Vale and Wynyard Station in Sydney’s CBD and is operated by double-deck buses. It is a busy interchange point, with connections to local bus services throughout the Northern Beaches.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Northern Beaches Police Area Command or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
More than 40 advanced native and coastal trees have been planted at James Meehan Reserve in Dee Why as part of a larger canopy-building programme targeting Northern Beaches suburbs identified as having lower-than-average tree cover.
The new plantings, completed over the past month, include a mix of five species chosen for their suitability to the local environment: banksia integrifolia, eucalyptus robusta, melaleuca quinquenervia, araucaria heterophylla and ficus rubiginosa.
For anyone walking through James Meehan Reserve on the way to the beach, heading out for a dog walk, or watching sport on the weekend, the change is already visible — and the benefits will compound considerably as the trees mature over coming years.
Dee Why is one of four suburbs prioritised in the current round of planting alongside Brookvale, Warriewood and North Curl Curl. The programme is funded through a special variation in rates and sits within a broader Tree Canopy Plan aimed at building urban greenery across the Northern Beaches over the long term.
Photo Credit: NBC
Shade that does real work on hot days
The new plantings will boost canopy cover and help reduce the impacts of urban heat on public land. Trees act as natural air conditioners, providing shade and cooling on hot days, and streets with trees can be several degrees cooler in summer.
On a suburb like Dee Why, where the built environment and coastal exposure combine to concentrate heat during summer afternoons, that temperature difference is felt directly by anyone spending time outdoors.
Photo Credit: NBC
Urban heat is not just a comfort issue. It affects how long people can safely spend outside, how walkable a neighbourhood feels during warmer months, and what kinds of outdoor activity are realistic for older residents and young children.
Increasing canopy cover in areas where it has historically been lower addresses that problem at a neighbourhood scale, rather than expecting individuals to manage it on their own.
Greener streets people actually want to spend time in
People are drawn to greener places. Green streets and neighbourhoods provide privacy, local character and places to play and spend time. It is the kind of thing that is easy to overlook until the trees are there, and then immediately obvious. A reserve with established canopy draws different foot traffic than an open, exposed one.
Photo Credit: NBC
It encourages slower movement, longer visits and the kind of incidental social contact that gives a suburb its sense of community.
For Dee Why, a suburb that has been developing at pace with new residential density along Pittwater Road and the surrounding streets, the addition of mature vegetation in public reserves plays a practical role in making shared outdoor spaces feel worth using.
A habitat, not just a landscape feature
Trees provide food and homes to birds, insects and wildlife. A mature gum tree can be home to many hundreds of different species, helping sustain ecosystems. The species selected for the James Meehan Reserve planting include natives well suited to supporting local wildlife corridors on the Northern Beaches.
Photo Credit: NBC
Banksia integrifolia, the coast banksia, is a particularly significant food source for honeyeaters and flying foxes. Ficus rubiginosa, the Port Jackson fig, supports fruit-eating birds and provides dense canopy as it matures.
The Dee Why planting connects to a broader effort to maintain biodiversity across the Northern Beaches’ urban landscape, where native vegetation has been progressively replaced by development over decades.
Part of a longer plan for the Northern Beaches
The James Meehan Reserve planting is one element of a larger-scale programme that targets low-canopy suburbs across the Northern Beaches with substantial numbers of trees rather than token additions.
The Tree Canopy Plan sets out preferred species, planting locations and long-term targets, and the current programme is executing against those priorities in a concentrated way.
Residents can learn more about the tree planting programme, preferred local species and the Tree Canopy Plan at the Northern Beaches website.
Stella Blu at Dee Why Beach will close after 34 years on The Strand, bringing an end to a beachfront restaurant remembered through decades of meals, milestones and familiar local routines.
For more than three decades, Stella Blu has been part of the rhythm of Dee Why Beach.
The Italian restaurant at 18 The Strand opened in 1992, when the beachfront had only a handful of eateries. It began as a 40-seat cafe serving pizza, focaccia, pasta, coffee and desserts, before growing into a larger restaurant known to generations of diners on the northern beaches.
That long run will end on 28 June, when Stella Blu closes after its final lunch service.
Co-owners Nick Salerno and Pino Salerno announced the closure as impending redevelopment of the site brings the restaurant’s time at The Strand to an end. The business looked at other options, but no alternative was found that felt right for Stella Blu.
Stella Blu’s story at Dee Why Beach began with modest offerings and a small dining room, but the venue quickly became a favourite among locals.
Over time, it expanded into adjoining premises and was renovated as the owners worked to create an Italian ristorante shaped by food, hospitality and its beachside location.
The site also carries an earlier family history. Umberto and Stella Russo, Italian immigrants, built two shops with a flat above after an older shop on the site burnt down in 1977. They operated a cafe on the corner of The Strand and Howard Avenue called Donna Stella.
Their son Victor later took over the restaurant and renamed it Stella Blu in honour of his mother.
When Nick Salerno became part of the business, Stella Blu was still known for simpler cafe-style meals. With Pino Salerno later joining as partner, the restaurant grew into the venue many diners came to know across the following decades.
Stella Blu became more than a place for lunch or dinner for many of its regulars.
Across 34 years, the restaurant became a setting for proposals, birthdays, wedding receptions, anniversaries, Mother’s Day meals, farewell drinks and wakes. Customers have remembered favourite dishes, family lunches, long meals with friends and occasions that became attached to the restaurant’s beachfront tables.
Former staff have also recalled busy services, long shifts and the people they worked with over the years. Others remembered the early days of the restaurant, when it was smaller, simpler and already becoming part of Dee Why Beach life.
Since the closure was announced, customers and former staff have shared memories of the restaurant’s food, service, staff and place on The Strand.
Redevelopment Ends the Restaurant’s Time on The Strand
The decision to close follows plans to redevelop the building into a shop-top apartment complex.
Nick Salerno had initially intended to work with the property owners through the redevelopment, with the possibility of continuing Stella Blu in the renewed premises. However, the process continued for a long period, leaving the business without certainty about whether it would return to the site.
He has said there was no acrimony over the redevelopment decision, but the lack of security around the restaurant’s future made it difficult to keep waiting.
The business also considered another premises on The Strand, but no suitable site was available. Moving Stella Blu away from Dee Why was not considered the right fit for a restaurant so closely associated with the suburb.
Final Meals by the Beach
The restaurant’s final week has been marked as a last chance for diners to return before Stella Blu closes its doors.
For some, that means one more meal at a familiar table. For others, it is a final visit to a place linked with birthdays, family gatherings, old work memories or evenings by the water.
Nick Salerno has said he is closing the restaurant while he still enjoys the work and the interaction with customers. After Stella Blu closes, he has said he will explore other potential interests in hospitality.
A Dee Why convenience store robbery that left a young staff member assaulted has resulted in one arrest, while police are still searching for a second man involved in the incident.
Just after 1:00pm on Thursday, 11 June 2026, officers from the Northern Beaches Police Area Command — including Inspector Matthew Patterson — responded to a call from Prime Dee Why Mart on Howard Avenue. The station is barely 100 metres from the store, meaning police were on scene quickly.
Two men had allegedly entered the shop and attempted to get behind the counter and into a storage area. When a 22-year-old male employee confronted them, the pair allegedly attacked him, kicking him in the head and leaving him with scratches and bruising. It is understood the men were attempting to take vapes and cigarettes, though police have not confirmed whether anything was actually stolen — and it is believed the pair left without any goods.
CCTV footage reviewed at the scene helped officers identify one of the two men almost immediately. A 20-year-old from Narrabeen was recognised by police, who are described as knowing him well. Despite being aware that officers were looking for him, he evaded police for approximately a week before handing himself in at Chatswood Police Station on Thursday, 18 June 2026.
He has since been charged with one count of common assault under Section 61 of the NSW Crimes Act, which carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment. He was granted conditional bail and is due to appear at Manly Local Court on Tuesday, 28 July 2026.
Investigators have indicated that further charges may follow. Police are reportedly considering whether to also charge him under Section 60G of the Crimes Act, a provision specifically aimed at protecting retail workers from assault, which carries a maximum penalty of four years’ imprisonment.
The second man remains unidentified. He is described as Caucasian, approximately 30 years old, and was wearing a black hoodie and black shorts at the time of the incident. He has a distinctive tattoo of cursive writing above his right eyebrow.
Anyone who recognises this description or has information that could assist the investigation is urged to contact Dee Why Police Station on 02 9971 3399 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A new Dee Why community garden has been approved for Arthur Reserve, giving residents a planned shared space for fresh produce, gardening knowledge and local connection.
Dee Why residents are set to gain a new community garden at Arthur Reserve after Northern Beaches Council approved the locally led proposal.
The garden will occupy a 300 square metre section of community land near the Cromer-Dee Why Scout Hall. It will be established, operated and maintained by a community garden group.
The proposal was endorsed at a recent meeting after strong public support. In late 2025, 145 submissions were received, with most backing the plan.
Many submissions referred to the proposed garden’s social, health, educational and environmental benefits.
The Dee Why community garden will feature raised garden beds and be designed for inclusive use.
The layout will also keep pedestrian movement through Arthur Reserve open, allowing people to move through the reserve while the garden operates nearby.
Community gardens are shared areas of land managed by groups of people. Garden beds may be individual or shared, with produce divided according to how each garden is organised.
A Shared Place To Grow And Learn
Community gardens provide space for residents to produce food locally, reduce household waste through composting and worm farming, and learn about permaculture and organic gardening.
They also bring together people with a shared interest in gardening and community-based growing.
Across the Northern Beaches, community gardens are generally located in parks or school grounds. They operate as separate incorporated associations, with volunteer members and elected committees.
Their running costs are covered through membership and annual fees, fundraising and grants.
The Dee Why site will be managed by the community garden group responsible for its establishment, operation and maintenance.
Photo Credit: NBC/YouTube
More Community Gardens Across The Northern Beaches
The new Arthur Reserve garden will add to existing community gardens across the Northern Beaches.
Active gardens already operate at Balgowlah, Seaforth, Freshwater, North Curl Curl, Manly Vale and Newport.
Balgowlah Community Garden is located behind the children’s playground at 100 Griffiths Street. The North Curl Curl garden is based on the western bowling green of the North Curl Curl Community Centre, at the corner of Abbott and Griffin Roads.
Freshie Community Garden is used for growing fruit trees, vegetables and flowers through sustainable gardening practices. Manly Vale Community Garden brings children, families and neighbours together to learn about more sustainable living.
A 74-year-old woman has been fined and had her licence suspended after an alleged low-range drink-driving crash at Dee Why, where her car hit a parked trailer and blocked May Road.
Police were called to May Road at Dee Why shortly after 6:45 pm on Wednesday, 10 June, following reports of a single-vehicle collision involving a parked trailer.
Residents who heard the impact came outside and found a silver 2016 Hyundai i30 hatchback had struck an unattended box trailer. The trailer was carrying building materials for a nearby construction project.
The vehicle hit the trailer on the passenger side. The 74-year-old woman driving the car did not appear injured, but the car and trailer were left blocking the road after the crash.
Police attached to Northern Beaches Police Area Command attended the scene and spoke with the driver.
The woman was directed to take a roadside breath test. She was reported to have had difficulty providing a sample before a reading was recorded. The roadside result was allegedly 0.07.
She was arrested and taken to Dee Why Police Station, where a further breath analysis allegedly returned a reading of 0.051, just above the legal limit.
Fines And Licence Suspension Issued
The woman was issued infringement notices for negligent driving and low-range prescribed concentration of alcohol as a first offence.
The negligent driving infringement carried a $562 fine and three demerit points. The low-range PCA infringement carried a $704 fine and a three-month licence suspension.
Her vehicle was later removed by tow truck.
Trailer Owner Called To May Road
The owner of the box trailer, a builder from Western Sydney, was contacted after the crash and arrived about 45 minutes later to move it.
Some residents criticised the trailer being left parked on the street rather than removed from the area each day.
A Dee Why man remains in a critical condition after being assaulted at James Meehan Reserve, with an appeal for dashcam and surveillance footage as police continue to investigate the incident.
Dee Why Assault Victim Remains In Critical Condition
A 47-year-old Dee Why man remains in a critical condition after he was assaulted at James Meehan Reserve, near the corner of Clyde Road and Richmond Avenue.
The man, identified by his partner as Nick, was attacked late on Friday night, 29 May, after reportedly approaching a group in the park area over noise. His partner has said he had gone to ask the group to lower the volume after loud music late at night.
He was later found severely injured and taken to hospital. His condition has since deteriorated, and he remains in the intensive care unit at Royal North Shore Hospital, where he is unconscious, intubated and on life support.
His partner has described serious injuries, including bleeding to the head, facial fractures, injuries to his ears and face, and extensive bruising.
Appeal For Dee Why Footage After Park Attack
The man’s partner has appealed for help from anyone who was parked or driving near the area on Friday night.
People with dashcam footage from around James Meehan Reserve have been asked to check recordings between about 10:00 pm and midnight. Anyone who was travelling between Pittwater Road and Dee Why Beach between 7:00 pm and midnight has also been asked to review footage that may show movement in the area.
Footage showing vehicles, headlights, people, or a group moving through the area may assist the investigation. The reserve was dark at the time, and there was no CCTV covering the immediate location.
The partner has remained anonymous because of concerns for her safety.
Police Continue James Meehan Reserve Investigation
Police have confirmed the investigation is continuing, with no further update available. Evidence was collected from the park after the assault, but the man’s condition means he has not been able to speak with police or provide his account of what happened.
A bystander reported seeing a rowdy group of youths returning from the beach area along Howard Avenue between about 10:30 pm and 11:00 pm before boarding a bus. That information has been passed to police, but there has been no confirmation that the group was involved in the assault.
The investigation remains focused on piecing together movements before and after the incident. Any dashcam, vehicle, home security or other footage from nearby streets may assist police as they continue their inquiries.
A major transport review covering the Northern Beaches is open for public feedback, triggering a fierce local push to get a metro rail line to Dee Why and Brookvale onto the dynamic planning agenda for the first time.
The Northern Beaches Network Review examines how the peninsula’s main road and public transport networks are performing. The official scope targets five key arterial corridors: Mona Vale Road, Warringah Road, Military and Spit roads, Pittwater Road, and the Pacific Highway.
But local community advocates, business groups, and regional leaders are hitting back, warning that the official strategy focuses too heavily on short-term fixes while ignoring the massive structural changes the peninsula desperately needs.
The case for metro rail
The Northern Beaches still has no rail connection. Buses and private cars fight for space on the same gridlocked corridors, and while the B-Line has made a massive dent in transit times since launching in late 2017, the network is hitting its absolute ceiling.
A formal community backlash is now gathering momentum, demanding that planners fast-track the “investigation of a mass transport solution such as a Metro rail to Dee Why and Brookvale” before the region bottlenecks completely.
Local submissions are also calling for aggressive bus priority upgrades north of Mona Vale, grade-separated cycleways, and immediate engineering fixes for notorious intersection logjams that the current official review largely glides over.
For Dee Why commuters heading south to the CBD, daily trips remain an exercise in frustration due to shifting bus reliability and relentless Pittwater Road gridlock. The notorious Officeworks intersection in Dee Why stands out as a prime pain point in local feedback.
What is currently on the table?
The official review sticks to practical, medium-term adjustments. Key proposals include an east-west B-Line link connecting Dee Why to Chatswood’s existing Metro station, alongside stronger bus priority lanes along Pittwater, Military, and Spit roads.
Several major road upgrades are also rolling out across the region simultaneously:
Mona Vale Road West: Detailed design work and site investigations are moving forward to widen a 3.4-kilometre stretch from two lanes to four between Terrey Hills and Ingleside, which includes a new northern shared path.
Wakehurst Parkway: Safety works, intersection upgrades, and flood mitigation projects are progressing between Frenchs Forest Road and Pittwater Road in North Narrabeen.
While these projects offer welcome relief, residents argue they are minor Band-Aids on a much larger systemic problem.
Density is coming, and the roads aren’t ready
The clock is ticking for the peninsula’s transport infrastructure. High-density residential zoning is ramping up across major hubs, with Mona Vale, Frenchs Forest, Brookvale, and Dee Why all locked in as designated growth zones. New planning reforms mean developments can now scale up to six storeys along these transit corridors.
Locals are warning that piling thousands of new residents into these areas without heavy mass transit infrastructure will completely paralyze local roads. The message from community leaders to infrastructure planners is clear: critical enabling infrastructure must pave the way for density, not trail behind it by a decade.
Tinkering around the edges simply will not cut it anymore when there are only a few bottleneck roads in and out of the peninsula.
Have your say by June 15
The community feedback window has been extended to Monday, 15 June 2026, to give residents more time to log their experiences. Locals can pinpoint exact problem intersections or congested corridors using the interactive map on the official Have Your Say platform, complete a travel survey, and download the full 30-page summary report.
To submit your feedback online, head to NSW Gov before the June 15 deadline.
A proposal for specialist accommodation at 70 Delmar Parade has placed a steep residential block near Dee Why Town Centre at the centre of a wider local question: how accessible housing for people with high support needs can be delivered in established suburban streets.
A $5.7 million development application for 70 Delmar Parade proposes to replace an existing dwelling with a seniors housing and Specialist Disability Accommodation development containing nine independent living units.
The proposal, listed as DA2026/0524, was submitted on 24 April 2026 and remains under assessment. Its public exhibition period ran from 8 May 2026 to 22 May 2026.
Manly House Foundation is identified as the applicant and social housing provider behind the project. The proposed accommodation would include four one-bedroom units and five two-bedroom units for residents with extreme functional impairment or very high support needs under the High Physical Support Specialist Disability Accommodation design category.
The proposal brings a specialised form of housing into an established residential street close to the town centre. It also raises practical questions about how such housing fits into a steep site, how residents and support services would move through the area, and how nearby homes could be affected by the scale and operation of the development.
Photo Credit: DA2026/0524
A Steep Delmar Parade Site Near Town Centre Services
The design material describes the site as being zoned R2 Low Density Residential and about 253 metres walking distance from Dee Why Town Centre. The proposal is presented as a two-pavilion design that follows the grade of the land, with landscaped areas and communal spaces arranged between the buildings.
Building A, near the Delmar Parade frontage, would include a ground-floor Class 7a car park and two residential levels. Building B, further to the rear, would contain three residential levels. The design also includes lifts, pedestrian pathways, terraces, landscaped gardens and communal areas.
The development summary lists the site area as 1,378 square metres by deposited plan, or 1,383 square metres by calculation. It gives the proposed gross floor area as 793 square metres and the proposed floor space ratio as 0.58:1. The same summary identifies the seniors housing non-discretionary floor space ratio as 0.5:1 and the low and mid-rise maximum allowable floor space ratio as 0.8:1.
The proposed height is listed as 9.5 metres. Parking proposed for the site includes one accessible bus space, one accessible visitor space, two staff spaces and four bicycle spaces.
Photo Credit: DA2026/0524
The community impact of the proposal sits in two areas.
The first is housing need. The development is intended to provide long-term accommodation for people with high physical support needs, a form of housing that requires accessible design, support services and proximity to everyday amenities.
The second is neighbourhood fit. The site sits in a residential street with a noticeable slope and nearby homes. Submissions raised concerns about whether the design, access arrangements and operational needs of the development can sit comfortably within that setting.
Those concerns do not remove the community relevance of the housing itself. Instead, they show the planning tension around where specialised accommodation is placed, how it is designed, and how its day-to-day operation may affect existing residents.
Design Case Focuses On Landscape, Access And Amenity
The architectural material presents the project as a response to the sloping land and the changing housing context near Dee Why Town Centre.
The design summary lists 347 square metres of communal open space, equal to 25 per cent of the site, and 549 square metres of landscaped open space, equal to 39.8 per cent. It also states that all nine apartments would receive daylight access and natural ventilation.
Other proposed features include rooftop solar, an EV-ready layout, a 5,040-litre rainwater tank for landscape irrigation and a 7kW photovoltaic system for common area use.
The design material says the two-building layout is intended to follow the site’s topography while creating communal areas for residents. It also identifies landscaped gardens, terraces and accessible circulation as part of the proposed living environment.
Photo Credit: DA2026/0524
Residents Raise Access, Parking And Amenity Concerns
Submissions from nearby residents and a planning consultant acting for adjoining owners raised concerns about the site and design, rather than the need for specialist accommodation itself.
Several concerns centred on access. Objectors said the Delmar Parade footpath and surrounding street conditions may be difficult for wheelchair users and mobility-aid users, particularly given the slope, surface conditions and access toward Dee Why Town Centre.
Parking and traffic were also raised. Submissions questioned whether the proposed parking would be enough for staff, visitors, service providers, deliveries and operational needs. One objection also raised concern about waste collection and the number of bins associated with the development.
Amenity issues were another major theme. Residents raised concerns about building bulk, privacy, solar access, potential overlooking from upper-level terraces and balconies, light spill, acoustic impacts from a 24-hour care setting and construction impacts from excavation.
One submission also raised concern about the proposed removal of a mature lemon-scented gum and the effect of the development on tree canopy, biodiversity and local wildlife.
Planning Issues Remain Under Assessment
Nolan Planning Consultants, acting for adjoining owners, raised five key issues: solar access, bulk and scale, privacy, parking and site suitability.
The planning submission argued that the proposal would have unreasonable impacts on adjoining properties, the streetscape and the character of the locality. It also questioned the proposed 0.58:1 floor space ratio, arguing that the seniors housing non-discretionary standard identified in the material is 0.5:1.
A separate detailed submission from adjoining owners raised concerns about morning sunlight to a neighbouring property, privacy from terraces and balconies, acoustic impacts, light spill, rock excavation, fire safety and the suitability of the local pedestrian route for mobility-aid users.
The application remains under assessment. Its outcome will determine whether the Delmar Parade site proceeds as a nine-unit specialist housing development, or whether the design needs further changes to address the concerns raised during the exhibition period.
