The City of Cockburn will meet with the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage this Thursday to discuss the WA Planning Commission’s (WAPC) notification to refuse density changes as part of the City’s revitalisation strategy for the suburbs of Bibra Lake, South Lake and North Lake.
A 29 March letter from the WAPC notified the City that Minister for Planning, Rita Saffioti, had refused the Lakes Revitalisation Strategy, endorsed by Council on 12 May 2016 after more than 12 months community consultation.
The Minister has rejected density changes under Amendment 118, which proposed to rezone land to accommodate new residential housing developments, including higher densities, in the lakes suburbs.
City Planning and Development Services Director, Daniel Arndt, said Thursday’s meeting would determine if the Department was prepared to support any changes to residential densities within the strategy area.
“The City will continue to keep community stakeholders updated, via a formal letter to owners and submitters, once we are in a clearer position as to what actions are available on this matter,” Mr Arndt said.
“Formal letters to indicate the next steps will be sent to stakeholders after Thursday’s meeting.”
The WAPC said Amendment 118 was refused as it was inconsistent with the Southern Metropolitan Peel Sub-regional Planning Framework because:
- It does not seek to protect the existing freight railway reservation from incompatible urban encroachment
- The amendment area is neither serviced by high-frequency public transportation nor located within a walkable catchment to a transit corridor, higher-order activity centre or employment node
- The proposed R40 and R60 codings are proposed beyond a 200 metre walkable catchment of local centres and are inappropriate given the existing street layout and lack of pedestrian connectivity
- A portion of amendment area is earmarked for Passenger rail – further investigation. Increasing residential densities in this location, and in the manner proposed will prejudice orderly and proper planning.
The letter said the amendment was also not supported by a WAPC endorsed Local Planning Strategy, which considers current state and regional planning policy and the suitability of increased residential codings within the amendment area in the context of the broader local government area.
Mr Arndt said the Strategy was consistent with State Government direction under key strategic documents (Perth and Peel @ 3.5 Million Sub-regional Planning Framework) and complimentary to the three revitalisation strategies in the City (Spearwood, Hamilton Hill and Coolbellup), already approved by the Planning Minister.
“The Strategy facilitates infill development and these targets are set under State government strategy (Perth and Peel @ 3.5 Million – Sub-regional Planning Framework) for each local government,” Mr Arndt said.
“Cockburn has a target, as set by the State Government, of 14,000 minimum infill dwellings by the year 2050.
“The City doesn’t just seek to fill up existing suburbs. The amendment sought to introduce new housing opportunities based on community desires for greater housing choice and opportunities to down size.
“Through a careful partnership with each unique community, we established a shared vision and an action plan to support higher densities with an infrastructure investment package to improve public facilities across the project area.”
There is more information about the Lakes Revitalistion Strategy on the City's
website.