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extent have been managed through compliance with the LEP by council and/or via strata by-laws.

Unfortunately, the Government has given its support to a relaxation of the LEP rules that require development consent. This effectively leaves the door open for anyone to rent out their property as a short-term rental. Strata committees will no longer have the right to pass a by-law to stop short-term rentals. How then are residents and neighbours of short-term rentals going to manage the inevitable noise and antisocial behaviour? The Government has suggested it does not know how to effectively regulate the industry in the absence of the LEP compliance, so will be consulting further with stakeholders before issuing an options paper next month. Their aim is to ensure that the industry can "establish a model that enables it to continue to flourish and innovate whilst ensuring the amenity and safety of users and the wider community are protected". The Government supports the industry taking a self-regulation approach. Airbnb and other platforms have ways of self-regulating rogue operators, however, how effective they are at doing so is not qualified. In addition, there are other unregulated platforms such as gumtree. Self-regulation will not stop rogue operators!

Anyone who has lived near a short-term rental can attest to the great disturbance it causes to their lives. It is vital that we make sure that the regulation of this industry provides an effective and non-onerous way for the community to shut down party houses. We need to act now. We will put together a submission to the Minister for Housing and Planning Anthony Roberts, the Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Matthew Kean, and copy in our local member James Griffin. We need you to make your experiences known. Please contact MCF if you have any experiences to report, or contact the Ministers directly.

- Airbnb and short-term letting suggested changes

- Review of new Local Member James Griffin's maiden speech in Parliament

- Top priority matters for new Member to consider, including Manly Hospital site

- Update on outstanding issues with Council

- Discontinuation of the resident parking permit scheme

- East Esplanade Reserve, better, but ...

- Little Manly Point Park ... what we now know

- Response to traffic issues - East Esplanade, Shelly Beach, Eustace St & Darley Rd

MANLY COMMUNITY FORUMNEWSLETTERMAY 2017

The next Manly Community Forum meeting will take place on the 16th May at 7pm, Manly Yacht Club, East Esplanade.

MEETING AGENDA

The Manly Community Forum (MCF) continues the good work of the previous Little Manly Precinct across a greater area, to ensure resident access to Council decisions. All residents, businesses and property owners in the Corso, Fairy Bower and Little Manly areas are welcome.

Is proposed St at e Governm ent Legislat ion about t o t rash t he am enit y of resident ial apar t m ent l iving in Manly?

A resident of the Peninsula apartments in Wentworth Street wrote to the Forum as follows:

A report is about to be released by the State Government that could turn "residential" apartment blocks into a free for all holiday-letting establishments.

Because of the Manly Council Working Party into Holiday Letting in 2004, we believed we had the problem under control. Protection under our "residential" status means that anyone so doing would require a development consent. Manly residents are about to receive a rude wakening.

It is as though a banner has been stretched across Manly Wharf by Airbnb welcoming everyone to their holiday apartments in Manly ? don?t worry about the residents.

Our own Committee member concluded as follows:

Changes will be made to NSW legislation that will allow the use of property as short-term accommodation without development consent. In October 2016, the legislative assembly of NSW released a report into the adequacy of the regulation of short-term holiday letting in NSW. This report contained a number of recommendations to the government on how it should deal with the rise in short-term rentals such as Airbnb and Stayz. Currently regulations vary from council to council. Under current legislation, the Manly Local Environmental Plan (LEP) requires owners to obtain development consent in order to use their accommodation as short-term rental. Short-term rental is defined as anything under 90 days. Fines for not complying can be as great as 1.1 million dollars. In addition to this, due to the LEP, strata management could pass a by-law outlawing the use of apartments within the strata complex for short-term accommodation. Manly, being the tourist destination it is, has seen many incidences whereby owners have attempted to rent out their accommodation to short-term tenants causing great disturbances to neighbours. Noise, loud drunken parties, and antisocial behaviour are typical complaints from neighbouring properties. These issues to large

Eustace St residents have raised serious concerns with the conclusion and agreement reached following the approval of the Civic Club site development, especially in regard to traffic flows in their street and surrounding area. Council needs to re-engineer traffic flows away from Eustace St, as:

1. More than 90% of taxi traffic in Manly uses Eustace St to get to Sydney Rd. The design of the rank is such that taxis leave the rank and loop around to get onto Eustace St. The cabs that don't sit in the rank drive down Belgrave St, turn right into Gilbert St and then right onto Eustace St.

2. Many personal vehicles prefer to turn into Eustace St rather than Belgrave St to get to Sydney Rd.

3. Many commercial delivery trucks leave the Manly CBD and Wharf precincts via Eustace St to also get to Sydney Rd.

4. Visitors to Manly cruise Eustace St in the hope of finding a parking spot.

Eustace St residents need Council to actively seek ways to reduce traffic volumes in this small street which is simply not designed to be a thoroughfare to Sydney Rd. The first priority should be to prohibit taxis from using Eustace St. Secondly a 40km/h speed limit should be imposed. Thirdly at least two traffic calming devices should be installed. Finally commercial vehicles should be restricted. Belgrave St is the appropriate roadway for all these vehicles .

The MCF is calling on Council to review the findings made in the decision report, consider the suggestions above made by the residents, and provide some relief from the influx of vehicle activity not properly considered in the concluding findings and clearly not given fair consideration in the Environmental Impact Statement.

POSITIVE OUTCOMES TO THE FOLLOWING:

. A congratulations to Candy Bingham for her work on the sea nym phs sculpt ure fund.

. An accepted DA for the Mar ine Parade change sheds, shower and t oilet s.

. An agreed direction on the pedest r ian t im ing l ight s at t he Corso and Manly Whar f , an agreed direction on the im proved l ight ing for t he pedest r ian crossing at Vict or ia and East Esplanade, and the consideration of additional pedest r ian warnings at Dar ley Rd and Ashburner St .

. Council agreement on the rem oval of som e self -sown She Oaks at Lit t le Manly Point Park .

. Gocher Cour t . A Community Services Officer at the Department of Family and Community Services has taken steps to improve resident amenity (tenants and neighbours) at Gocher Court. Current concerns with waste management (bin pick-up and drop-off) are being addressed through Public

Housing and Northern Beaches Council (NBC).

. Issues with the collect ion pit for cont am inat ed runof f at Lit t le Manly Point Park have been addressed by Council. Technical maintenance and the testing of pit drainage have been carried out, and maps showing the whereabouts of pipes and the connection to North Head Sewage Treatment Plant (NHSTP) are held. MCF will be reviewing the other Little Manly Point Park concern namely the public toilets now that we have the sewerage connection maps.

. East Esplanade Reserve upgrade and m aint enance. Council intends to conduct a major upgrade after the June budget period. Meanwhile some excavation has been carried out and grass laid over bare areas. Council plans to renew the sandstone guttering on East Esplanade to stop the heavy road runoff and avoid some erosion. Other upgrades will be part of the works carried out in the new financial year.

. Dam aged st orm wat er pipes at Mar ine Parade are being addressed with the remedial work planned for the pool and public walkway. More detail will be available in May.

MATTERS STILL AWAITING COUNCIL ACTION:

. Shelly Beach park ing and t raf f ic m anagem ent in Bower St . A response is expected this week from the Council Traffic Management Engineers. We understand that they have conducted a survey of the vehicles utilising the parking at Shelly Beach and more than 50% of the users are Northern Beaches residents with free parking.

The vehicle recognition system cannot be uitilised and there doesn?t appear to be much use in an electronic system to register available space at the College and Bower intersection. Council also advised that the suggestion that street parking could be limited to say 7 hours or less would probably impact Bower St residents/visitors more than anybody else.

. The suggested replacement of warning signs advising of the fines applicable for capturing and stealing wat er dragons is underway and Council will advise of the replacement date before the next meeting. Rangers have been asked to increase patrols in this area.

. Sydney Wat er ?s NHSTP is still a major concern for any resident interested in a clean and odour -f ree environm ent . They have no plans to reduce the impact on the environment/ ocean and planned upgrades have been diluted by IPART?s intervention (a government body supposedly independent). One of our residents has been denied access to reports on odour management after she submitted a costly Freedom of Information request.

. Car park ing in Manly. A Motion submitted to NBC states that "given that we now appear to be walking away from the oval carpark solution we need our Council to form a review group containing resident representatives to again discuss options and ideas for a future parking plan?. Residents and visitors experience serious problems with parking and it will not improve.

MAY 2017 PAGE 2

EUSTACE STREET AT THE LAST MEETING CONTINUED...

AT THE LAST MEETING

MAY 2017 PAGE 3

. The fut ure of Manly Hospit al sit e. We have a local team of professionals who have completed studies on how the current buildings could be utilised for the preferred community services.

The Future Options Study and Workshop planned by the State Government, which included the forum Chairman and a supported request to include our expert team, has been deferred indefinitely.

The Minister is stating that all options are open and MCF are worried about the future of the site. We are seeking meetings with NSW Health, our Local member and the Health Ministry.

. Manly Cinem a Who in the new council is fighting for our cinema? MCF has asked the question and we should have a response by the May meeting.

OTHER MATTERS RAISED IN GENERAL BUSINESS:

The dangerous pedest r ian and t raf f ic run across East Esplanade f rom Ashburner St . Suggestions were made but most residents understood the difficulty of another pedestrian crossing immediately after the bend from Osborne into East Esplanade. The matter is directed to NBC Traffic Management for comment.

. Possible t ree poisoning at Shelly Beach , adjacent to the steps to Bower St.

. No comment from the Council on the concerns raised and the MCF suggestion for the Council to revert to t he or iginal general wast e collect ion m et hod of twice a year for all homes in a certain area, mapped by Precinct and various dates. Dumping is rife and recycling is not happening as it does with the planned area collection system.

AT THE LAST MEETING CONTINUED...

. West ern Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link . The MCF Chairman encouraged all residents to participate in the feedback sessions planned for April/May. The best opportunity in May is at Manly Leagues Club (Thursday, 25 May 2-6pm and Saturday, 27 May 10am-2pm).

Manly Resident Park ing Perm it . By now you may be aware that Council intends to ?review? the continuation of the resident parking permit. This permit was introduced by Council at the request of residents who were continually restricted in their shopping and entertainment/dining by the 2-hour limit on free car parking. It was also seen as a benefit for the long-suffering residents who bare the brunt of Council costs and have to fight with visitors for parking.

The Chamber of Commerce also relies on residents to shop locally. Visitors tend to visit food and beverage areas and perhaps surf shops. We will never develop a satisfactory mixed business centre if we make it difficult for residents to shop in Manly CBD. We have asked residents to participate in the review and workshop before Council stop this permit.

Burning Issues. The final part of the April meeting was taken by Ian Lang. He conducted a brief workshop on what attending residents regarded as the burning issues that would influence their vote (either for Councillors or in the next State election).

The issues were identified and form part of the April Minutes. These will be reviewed, varied, expanded on as needed. MCF efforts will then be directed to what residents believe the important issues close to their heart to be.

A 15-minute review will occur at the May meeting. Come ready to promote your important issues.

AT THE LAST MEETING CONTINUED...

MAY 2017 PAGE 4

NBC Press Release - Friday, 28 April 2017

The centre of Manly will be a more user-friendly pedestrian destination thanks to streetscape upgrades being carried out by Northern Beaches Council.

Council?s General Manager Environment & Infrastructure Ben Taylor said the Manly CBD would be more visually appealing and pedestrian safety and connectivity would be improved.

?Manly is a popular destination that attracts more than two million visitors a year, and most of those visitors, as well as the locals, walk around Manly.

?Manly is a beautiful place but there are things we can do to make the CBD more interesting, safer and a better connected place to walk,? Mr Taylor said.

Streetscape upgrades and paving works on Central Avenue and Whistler Street will complete links to the previously upgraded Raglan Street, Sydney Road, Henrietta Lane, Manly Plaza and the Corso.

This includes an extension of the footpath on the corner of Sydney Road and Whistler Street to improve pedestrian safety.

These works are the next stage in the Manly Laneways Project, which is designed to create improved, safe and friendly public spaces for the local community within the Manly CBD.

The work will not remove parking or change traffic arrangements in Whistler Street and Central Avenue.

Other work will include landscape improvements and new street furniture.

Work is scheduled to start in May and is expected to be completed before the busy summer season, weather permitting.

Your t hought s on t he planned work and t he work already com plet ed w il l be discussed at t he May m eet ing.

The following DAs have been submitted to Council for consideration for the month of April and first week of May. The MCF executives have listed these DAs for your information (details are available on the Council website) but these will not be discussed at the meeting unless a resident advises of a particular concern. If you are aware of other current developments not listed below and wish to discuss at the next meeting, please email secretary@manlycommunityforum.com.

DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

CDC 49/2017 2-8 DARLEY ROADDA 67/2017 34 WOOD STREETDA 69/2017 16' SKIFF CLUB EAST ESPLS96/482/2004/15 23 SPRING COVE AVENUES96 / 684/1999/8 9-15 CENTRAL AVENUE CDCDA 77/2017 9 BRUCE AVENUEDA 79/2017 14 BOWER STREETDA 82/2107 80 WEST ESPLANADECC 127/2015/3 115 DARLEY ROADOCC 173/2014/2 129 BOWER STREETOCC 133/2016 6 COLLEGE STREETOCC 482/2004/14 SPRING COVE AVENUEOCC 334/2016 43 THE CORSOCDC 49/2107 2-8 DARLEY ROAD

Email all correspondence to secretary@manlycommunityforum.com & mathose@bigpond.net.au

Minutes of the Monthly Meeting are posted on our website manlycommunityforum.com

Online Communicat ions: If you?d like to receive this newsletter and other MCF correspondence by email, please email secretary@manlycommunityforum.com

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