Peaceful Bayside

● A B O U T

Who are we?

Peaceful Bayside was formed in 2020 as a community group to create a safer, greener, livable, and more creative Bayside.

Now we are also a local council political party bringing fresh, visionary leadership to Bayside Council (NSW). There are currently two Peaceful Bayside Councillors elected to Bayside Council – Dr Janin Bredehoeft and our Founder, Deputy Mayor Heidi Lee Douglas.

Our Councillors
Two women standing in front of a blue backdrop with balloons, smiling at the camera. The backdrop has the text "Bayside Council" and a logo with a sailboat. The woman on the left has short hair, red glasses, and is wearing a black jacket. The woman on the right has long brown hair, and is wearing a colorful embroidered dress and making a peace sign with her fingers.

Our Values

  • Community involvement in local decision-making

  • A greener, safer and healthier Bayside for all

  • Respect, diversity and inclusion

  • Support for arts, culture and creativity

Our Campaigns

  • Jet Ski Safety

    Safer Bayside

    • Safer streets and beaches

    • Tackling excessive traffic noise

    • Smarter speed camera trials

    • Action on unsafe jet ski behaviour

    • Keeping big trucks off local streets

    • More pedestrian crossings

    • Better walking connections

    • Safer cycling routes

    • Shorebird and habitat protections

    Learn more
  • Banksia pod

    Greener Bayside

    • Restoring nature across Bayside

    • Protecting the places we love

    • Progressing the Kamay Greenway active transport and nature corridor

    • Growing our tree canopy

    • Supporting sustainability education

    • Reducing waste via a Circular Economy Hub

    • New Open Space and Recreation plan

    • Protecting parks for future generations

    • Saying yes to Natural Turf

    • Keeping Bayside green and healthy

    Learn more
  • People relaxing outdoors on a wooded trail, lying on the ground, with bicycles and a book nearby, under a sunny sky.

    Liveable Bayside

    • Building people-friendly neighbourhoods

    • Advocating for affordable housing

    • Creating more green spaces

    • Putting people at the heart of planning

    • Designing places people love to use

    • Building stronger community connections

    • Supporting vibrant local centres

    • Driving an Arts and Culture Hub in Rockdale

    • Advocating for a replacement library and community hub in Brighton-Le-Sands

    • Making Bayside more liveable for everyone

    Learn more
  • Photography competition at Brighton Le Sands

    Creative Bayside

    • Celebrating our arts and culture

    • Supporting Bayside’s diverse communities

    • Growing a stronger creative economy

    • Creating more places to connect

    • Bringing colour to our streets with murals

    • Supporting local markets

    • Celebrating live music

    • Making space for film and storytelling

    • Growing festivals and cultural events

    • Inspiring creativity every day

    Learn more
Two women smiling for a selfie outdoors with greenery and a mural in the background. One woman has short brown hair, red round glasses, and is wearing a patterned blouse. The other woman has long dark hair, a black hat, and a blue jacket.

● OUR STORY

What’s the big idea?

  • In June 2020, Bayside resident Heidi Lee Douglas was almost hit by dangerous drivers twice in one week when walking her local streets. Moved to action, Heidi set up the Bayside Residents for Peaceful Streets petition, calling for the Mayor of Bayside Council to work with police to create safer streets.

    Thousands of people quickly signed the petition and contacted Heidi. In response, Heidi set up a Facebook group "Bayside Residents for Peaceful Streets". Within days, twenty concerned locals came together and created the community group "Peaceful Bayside", with a core group of volunteer organisers, now supported by more than 10,000 Peaceful Bayside supporters.

  • Peaceful Bayside brought together passionate locals who gathered ideas and empowered, educated and mobilised the community to properly report hooning and dangerous driving to Bayside Council and St George Police.

    Together, we carried out extensive research to identify solutions to speeding, anti-social and dangerous driving.

    We consistently engaged with our community through online education, letterbox drops and encouraging attendance at police community consultation events.

  • We asked for more visible Police presence at problem areas to deter anti-social behaviour. St George Police acted on Peaceful Bayside's requests for more policing of dangerous driving and hooning through ‘Operation Engage’.

    In November 2020, Peaceful Bayside presented our petition to Bayside Council together with a set of recommendations on how Council can improve safety and liveability in Bayside in relation to safer streets. They unanimously supported Peaceful Bayside's suggestions. Council created its own ‘Safe Bayside’ campaign to lobby state government for speed cameras on Bay St.

    We meet with St George Police regularly and each summer we work with them to ensure there will be extra patrols, car defect checks and specialised operations in known problem areas.

  • Commitments made by Bayside Council needed ongoing pressure to be honoured, and we needed councillors to be more active on this issue. Our community wanted fresh, visionary leadership for Bayside.

    We ran three Peaceful Bayside independent candidates in the 2021 Bayside Council election for Ward 5. Backed by hundreds of Peaceful Bayside volunteers, Heidi Lee Douglas was elected to Bayside Council.

  • We wrote to the Premier, the Minister for Roads and Transport and the Minister for Police, about these issues in Bayside (and mobilised our mailing list to do the same). We called on our State Member of Parliament, Steve Kamper, for more action on the issue.

    In 2023, he committed to helping establish the first Australian noise camera trial in Bayside, including on Bay Street, to combat anti-social driving and excessive vehicle noise. The trial commenced in December 2024 and involves the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) using technology called "SoundVue" to detect and record noisy vehicles, aiming to address community concerns about hooning.

  • Inspired and driven by what Councillor Heidi Lee Douglas had been able to achieve on Council, but with more to do in making Bayside better, we registered Peaceful Bayside as a political party in 2023. Led by local residents, we have now expanded our advocacy to drive real change on key local issues across the Bayside LGA.

    ​In 2024 we ran Peaceful Bayside candidates across our whole local government area at the local council elections. Two Peaceful Bayside Councillors were elected: Clr Heidi Lee Douglas was re-elected for Ward 5, and Clr Dr Janin Bredehoeft was elected for Ward 3. Clr Douglas was elected as Deputy Mayor of Bayside Council.

Read more

•

Safer streets

•

Balanced urban development

•

Safer beaches

•

Environmental resilience

•

Safer playing fields

•

Community hubs and libraries

•

Kamay Greenway

•

Heritage protections

•

Active transport

•

Healthy rivers

•

Support for arts and culture

•

Access and inclusion

•

Revitalised town centres

• Safer streets • Balanced urban development • Safer beaches • Environmental resilience • Safer playing fields • Community hubs and libraries • Kamay Greenway • Heritage protections • Active transport • Healthy rivers • Support for arts and culture • Access and inclusion • Revitalised town centres

Support Us

  • Volunteer

    Volunteer

    Peaceful Bayside is powered by people like you. We’re a community of caring, fun, creative locals and when you volunteer with us, you’ll make a real difference right where you live. Whether you have a little time or a lot, there’s a place for you in our team. So please volunteer and help us build a better Bayside, together.

    Volunteer
  • Join the Party

    Join the Party

    If you want safer streets, greener parks, more liveable neighbourhoods, and a thriving local arts and culture scene… then join our party! It’s free, it keeps local democracy strong, and keeps the major parties more accountable. Our party ONLY operates in the Bayside LGA. Becoming a member gives you a real voice on Bayside Council and the power to shape our community.

    Join the party
  • Group of nine people standing outdoors in a park with a dog sitting in front of them, some wearing matching blue shirts with white text.

    Donate

    Every dollar you give helps keep our community movement strong and independent. Your support powers all our local campaigns, keeps Peaceful Bayside representatives on Council, helps us stay connected through our website, newsletters, and events — all run on the dedication of volunteers and the smell of an oily rag.

    Donate

  • We will listen, keep the community in the loop and make it easier for people to have their say.

  • Domestic violence causes real harm in our community. We will support this by investing in services that build women's social connection and financial independence, alongside work to hold perpetrators accountable.

  • We will help create more community and cultural events in Bayside, building social cohesion to enrich the lives of residents of all abilities and backgrounds.

  • We will create well designed shared paths, connectivity for commuting, lighting for night-time activities, and improve facilities for both active and passive users.

  • We will help ensure development is sustainable and allows for proper community consultation.

  • We will address the risks associated with climate change, encouraging Council to start a food waste recycling system, open a sustainability hub and stick to a net zero emissions target.

  • We will increase liveability across Bayside, providing activities and social connection opportunities for residents of all ages.

  • We will ensure better management of our precious green spaces, preventing illegal rubbish dumping and restoring biological diversity.

Peaceful Bayside acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Bidjigal and Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. This always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.

● CONTACT

Request Information

If you would like more information about our group, have a media enquiry or want to ask a general question, please fill out this Contact Us form.

If you would like to support us by donating your time visit the volunteer page.

Issues, questions and ideas for Heidi (Ward 5)?

To send us ideas or report on-the-ground issues across Ward 5 (Kyeemagh, Brighton Le Sands, Monterey, Ramsgate, Sandringham, Dolls Point), please email heidilee.douglas@bayside.nsw.gov.au

Issues, questions and ideas for Janin (Ward 3)?

To send us ideas or report on-the-ground issues across Ward 3 (Rockdale, Arncliffe, Banksia, Bexley), please email janin.bredehoeft@bayside.nsw.gov.au