Design process

The planning process to facilitate urban development in the Warriewood Valley area commenced in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The rezoning of parts of the northern and southern end of the Valley for industrial and commercial development, with a small component of land zoned for medium density residential development, was effected in the mid 1980s. These early rezonings were referred to as the Warriewood Valley Stage One Release Area. The remaining non-urban areas of the Warriewood Valley were assessed for their urban potential in conjunction with the Ingleside-Warriewood land release investigation.

Pittwater Council completed a strategy for the release of the remaining land in Warriewood Valley in 1995 and the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning announced a restricted land release of land zoned non-urban in the Warriewood Valley in 1997. On this basis the area was included in the State Government's Urban Development Program (later named the Metropolitan Development Program) as an urban land release area.

The planning strategy for the area is Pittwater Council's Warriewood Valley Urban Land Release Draft Planning Framework, which was prepared in the mid 1990s. The valley has been divided into various sectors to achieve orderly development. Land within some of the sectors in the valley has been rezoned and is being developed for housing by various developers, in accordance with the approved sector masterplans. In other sectors, land is in the process of being rezoned for residential and industrial/commercial uses. Infrastructure that is required in the Valley as a result of the urban development is being provided from developer contributions under Pittwater Council's Warriewood Valley Section 94 Contributions Plan. As at December 2007, Council had managed $22.7 million dollars of infrastructure since July 2000.

The Warriewood Valley Open Space and Cycleway Section 94 Strategy promotes cycling, walking and public transport, and states that the network should be planned to minimise reliance on the use of private motor vehicles. Each development sector is to provide safe and convenient walking and cycling connections to adjoining sectors, and to adjacent areas of open space, services and other facilities. Connectivity within each sector is required to ensure the majority of dwellings are within 400 metres walking distance to bus stops. The Strategy specifies that all road construction or reconstruction within the release area must be designed and constructed so as to provide accommodation for cyclists and pedestrians. In access streets and lanes the abutting landuse and landscaping is to dominate, with traffic speeds and volumes low and pedestrian and cycle movements and connectivity facilitated.

The Section 94 Strategy was a highly commended project in the 2006 Parks and Leisure Australia Planning Awards.