Manly Community Forum

03/09/2026

Finally, the contractor has started work on the long promised upgrade to Marine Parade and Bower Lane. Three more months of disruption to see the footpath improved will be worth the 25 year wait.

02/09/2026

30/08/2026

Submit a ten minute play for our Young Adult Short Play Festival. Ages 15 to 25, no experience needed to have a go.

bit.ly/NBYTWRITERS27

Want a hand getting started? Come to our free writing workshop, Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th September, 5:30 to 8pm, in Warriewood.

bit.ly/NBYTWRITINGSEPT26

NorthernBeachesYouthTheatre

Proudly supported by Northern Beaches KALOF .

28/08/2026

The Northern Beaches planning proposal to seeks to establish a Special Entertainment Precinct (SEP) in Manly via amendments to Manly Local Environmental Plan 2013 with the addition of a map of the SEP boundary and a corresponding local provision, and State Environmental Planning Policy (Precincts—Eastern Harbour City) 2021 to enable land at Manly Cove that is located outside the Northern Beaches local government area to be included in the proposed Manly SEP.

This Gateway approval was received on 25 August 2026, allowing the Manly Special Entertainment Precinct (SEP) trial planning proposal to progress to the next stage.

Council is currently preparing for the public exhibition period, which will take place later this year.

Feedback received during the exhibition will help inform a Council decision in early 2027 on whether a trial of the SEP should proceed.

24/08/2026

🏠 SEP EXPLAINED #10 - THIS ISN'T JUST ABOUT MANLY

Things may have gone a little quiet on the proposed Manly Special Entertainment Precinct (SEP), but the SEP has not gone away.

Council is still awaiting the next steps from the NSW Government's Gateway process. When public exhibition begins, we will need as many residents and businesses as possible to have their say.

But there's a bigger reason everyone across the Northern Beaches should be paying attention.

📍 MANLY IS INTENDED TO BE THE FIRST - NOT THE LAST.

Council has already identifying other Northern Beaches centres for potential future SEPs, including Mona Vale and Brookvale.
But these locations are not all the same.

🍺 A SEP within Brookvale's industrial and brewery precinct, with little or no surrounding residential population, is a completely different proposition.

🏠 A SEP imposed over an established mixed-use community where thousands of people already live is another matter entirely.

⚠️ Under the Vibrancy Reforms, an SEP changes more than permitted entertainment noise levels. It changes the regulatory framework and protections available to residents.

Our work on the Manly proposal has raised serious concerns about:
🔊 Higher permitted noise levels
🚫 Reduced regulatory and enforcement protections
🌙 Increased late-night anti-social behaviour
😴 Impacts on sleep and quiet enjoyment
🏠 Impacts on residential amenity and potentially property values

These aren't abstract planning issues. They affect what it means to live in your own home.

🎵 THIS IS NOT ABOUT OPPOSING LIVE MUSIC OR VIBRANT TOWN CENTRES.

It's about recognising that an entertainment precinct designed around a non-residential area is fundamentally different from one imposed over people's homes.

For years, planning encouraged residents and businesses to coexist in mixed-use centres, supporting local businesses year-round.

🏠 Residents shouldn't now be expected to surrender fundamental protections simply because the government policy direction has changed.

❤️ MANLY IS THE TEST CASE. DON'T LET IT BECOME THE BLUEPRINT.

If an SEP model reduces residents' protections in mixed-use communities, we should question whether that model belongs in residential communities at all.

❤️ Manly is special - and every Northern Beaches community deserves an approach appropriate to the people who actually live there.

23/08/2026

Some work on North Head. The wildflowers will be spectacular over the next month

19/08/2026

Help protect NSW’s wildlife this migration season.

Each year, short-tailed shearwaters (mutton-birds) travel thousands of kilometres from the northern Pacific to breed in south-eastern Australia.

During this migration, some birds may become exhausted and die from the stresses of the journey. Large numbers of dead shearwaters, known as 'wrecks', can be a natural part of migration.

While some seasonal mortality is expected, ongoing surveillance remains important following recent detections of H5 bird flu in wild birds in Australia.

Public reporting is a critical part of surveillance efforts and supports early detection and response activities.

As migratory seabirds return to our coastline, stay vigilant and report any sick or dead wild birds or wildlife.

If you see sick or dead birds or wildlife:

✅ Avoid contact

✅ Record what you see

✅Report sick or dead birds or other animals to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888

For more information, including what to look out for, visit https://www.dpird.nsw.gov.au/dpi/biosecurity/animal-biosecurity/avian-influenza/about-avian-influenza-and-the-risk-to-nsw