It was a year of recovery, optimism, and collaboration across the Northern Beaches with Council’s annual report reflecting a raft of achievements providing direct benefit to the community.
In 2022/23 Council powered ahead to deliver $82 million in capital works projects, including an investment of over $15 million to provide 10.3km of road resurfacing, 5km of new footpaths, 4.1km of shared paths and 1.6km of footpath renewals.
We also delivered amazing new state-of-the-art facilities including the Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club complete with clubhouse, public amenities, café, and community storage. A new pedestrian and cycle bridge across Narrabeen Lagoon providing pedestrians and cyclists ample shared space to safely cross the lagoon and new buildings for Duffys Forest Rural Fire Service Brigade and the Marine Rescue Headquarters at Broken Bay.
Council also remained focused on exceeding climate action targets with the installation of 20 additional EV charging stations, positioning Northern Beaches as one of the fastest-growing areas for EV adoption, contributing to a more sustainable future.
Council was also strategically focussed, with the adoption of the Youth Voice Action Plan 2028 – Shaping the Beaches Future, Economic Development Strategy - Business on the Beaches, and Community Engagement Policy and Community Engagement Strategy.
The annual report also outlines Council’s achievements in the third year of implementing the Towards 2040 Local Strategic Planning Statement and the first year of the Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2022-2026.
We also played host to many community events from the Sun Run to Taste of the Beaches and Manly Jazz supporting local businesses and bringing the community together.
And last, but not least we also won 22 industry leadership awards and the incredibly prestigious AR Bluett Memorial Award from Local Government NSW. This award has been described as ‘the pinnacle of local government’, recognising the most progressive metropolitan and rural council out of 128 across NSW – which we are pretty proud of!
Interested in knowing more? The report was endorsed by Council this week and can be viewed on our website.