local - 2026-08-11

Northern Beaches Council Unveils Major Planning Overhaul: Duplexes Allowed, Gas Cooking Banned in New Builds

Source: Manly Observer

Northern Beaches Council has put a landmark overhaul of local planning rules on public exhibition, marking the culmination of more than five years of technical work and community consultation. The proposed changes aim to consolidate four separate sets of planning controls — inherited from the former Manly, Pittwater and Warringah councils — into a single Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and Development Control Plan (DCP) covering the entire local government area.

Northern Beaches Council has put a landmark overhaul of local planning rules on public exhibition, marking the culmination of more than five years of technical work and community consultation. The proposed changes aim to consolidate four separate sets of planning controls — inherited from the former Manly, Pittwater and Warringah councils — into a single Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and Development Control Plan (DCP) covering the entire local government area. The draft documents are on public exhibition until 30 August 2026, giving residents, property owners and developers the opportunity to review and provide feedback on what would become the definitive planning rulebook for the Northern Beaches. Council hopes the unified framework will simplify the often confusing patchwork of regulations that have governed development across the LGA since the three councils merged in 2016. A Local Environmental Plan sets the overarching rules for land development, while a Development Control Plan provides more detailed guidance and supplementary requirements for new development proposals. Together, the two documents will shape how homes, businesses and public spaces are built and modified...