A member has made the following observations:

I have recently registered to participate in the Local Centres Design Roundtable to consider growth and development issues out to and beyond the next 20 years.

A key input to those considerations must be the forecast impacts on our existing infrastructure and institutions. Those impacts do not come from population influx alone.

Mapping to Reflect Impact of Tidal & Waterway Inundation from Global Warming

There are grave predictions of global warming consequences and associated sea-level rise and tidal inundation which in turn will affect large areas of Willoughby LGA in the East and West. Those impacts are rooted in climate science which has been proven irrefutable.

I would appreciate, and will be pressing for, evidence of “Climate Change Adaptation” planning measures underway by WCC which will reveal strategic adaptive countermeasures facing the community. This could range from:

• extensive additional air-conditioning of public and private infrastructure to ensure habitability in the presence of hotter days,
• vital relocation of roads and pedestrian pathways inundated by rising tidal variation,
• loss of public park areas adjoining waterways due to higher mean tidal levels,
• loss of trees due to a drying climate and imposition of water restrictions and associated loss of habitat,
• consequential loss of private real estate in the riverine and estuary areas and consequential relocation of families elsewhere within the Willoughby LGA or beyond,
• the consequential impact on residents of the Willoughby LGA of the loss of associated amenity, and
• the consequential impact on Willoughby LGA Ratepayers of Council’s future operating budget.

It is inconceivable that any Design Roundtable could begin to consider the issues without such information.

 Residential Growth Projections

Moreover, any further residential growth development in the Willoughby LGA should be immediately suspended or deferred until all public infrastructure has been resized to redress current overcrowding and additional capacity provided ahead of any future residential growth. I refer here particularly, but not only, public school capacity, off-street parking, public parks, and electric vehicle (EV) recharging points.