September 25, 2024
Private Members’ Statement – Lizard Rock Development Proposal
Mr MICHAEL REGAN (Wakehurst) (22:29): On Saturday 21 September many in the Wakehurst electorate became all too aware of just how vulnerable we are to bushfires. At around 1.30 p.m., a scheduled hazard reduction burn at Meatworks Avenue in Oxford Falls escaped containment lines and quickly gathered pace towards homes in Cromer Heights. As smoke filled the sky, many across the northern beaches wondered if everything was okay. It was not. The situation quickly escalated and, by 3.00 p.m., residents in Cromer Heights were being told that it was too late to leave and they needed to actively monitor their properties for burning embers and put out spot fires. Luckily, no lives or properties were lost, and the fire was quickly contained.
As always, I give a massive thank you to all our firefighters—almost 300 in total and many of them volunteers—and a special shout‑out to Beacon Hill and Belrose rural fire brigades from my electorate. Out‑of‑control bushfires threatening lives and property can seem incongruous with comfortable suburban life in metropolitan Sydney. But on the northern beaches, where there is significant urban-bushland interface areas, the threat is very real. History teaches us this much. There have been numerous bushfires on the northern beaches over the years, including in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1990s. The most damaging in recent history was in 1994 when 37 homes were destroyed. While the past is instructive, we know it is no longer an accurate indicator of future conditions. In a rapidly warming world, we are now in uncharted territory when it comes to bushfire risk. And conditions will be more challenging, not less.
Greg Mullin, AO, was the Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner from 2003 to 2017 and is a leading voice on bushfire management and risk. He is also a local and has been a volunteer firefighter on the northern beaches since the 1970s. He lays it out like this: Bushfire risk in the area is worsening as a result of climate change, and the effectiveness of traditional mitigation tools such as hazard reduction burning, asset protection zones and construction standards are limited because of the increasing intensity of bushfires. Greg was out with the crews on the weekend and emphasised to my office just how difficult the job for firefighters is now. Just two weeks ago, it was too wet to burn; this week there was a runaway fire. So the window for hazard reduction burning is now small and getting smaller. When speaking with Greg, he said, “Saturday was 24 degrees. Can you imagine a day of 44 degrees and gale force winds?” The reality is we have to confront the likelihood, perhaps inevitability, of that scenario.
I draw attention to the fire on the weekend and future intensifying bushfire risk on the northern beaches to highlight the profound recklessness of the proposed Lizard Rock/Patyegarang planning proposal. The proposal would see a whole new subdivision of at least 450 low-rise homes—with additional granny flats, no doubt—surrounded by bushland in Oxford Falls, very close to where the fire got out of control on Saturday. Greg Mullins’ submission to the Lizard Rock/Patyegarang rezoning proposal states:
If established, the new homes will adjoin Garigal National Park and other contiguous areas of bushland comprising coastal heath and dry sclerophyll forest that is highly flammable and results in fast-burning, intense bushfires that produce burning embers that can travel significant distances under the right weather conditions to ignite homes, gardens, and other areas of bushland. There will only be a single lane, narrow road for egress, and this would be rapidly cut off by intense flames in the event of a fire, as it was in 1979 and 1994, preventing evacuation of residents and fire services from entering.
In no uncertain terms, he also states:
The Patyegarang proposed development should not proceed due to extreme, and worsening, bushfire risk and lack of suitable evacuation paths for residents.
I continue to be steadfast in my opposition to the Lizard Rock/Patyegarang rezoning proposal. I share the frustration of many in the community that the proposal remains live in the planning system and that decision‑making for the proposal has been so slow. It is almost a year since the rezoning proposal went on public exhibition in November 2023. Over 1,500 public submissions were received by the department of planning. The original gateway determination stated that the rezoning should be finalised by June 2024. Instead, I learnt through questions on notice that the proponent is being granted an extension to prepare their response to the issues raised by the public and other government agencies during the consultation.
Once they have prepared their response to submissions, the proposal will again go to the Sydney North Planning Panel for a decision. The indicative time frame given for this is towards the end of 2025. This week I have asked further questions on the timeline from here, including when the community submissions and government agency comments on the proposal will be released. In light of all the evidence, further demonstrated on Saturday, how can we possibly, in good conscience, put the lives of residents and firefighters at such risk? This reckless, bushfire trap of a development must not proceed.
Click here to read the Hansard.
25 September 2024