The City of Cockburn's response to the Cockburn Gazette on 21 May 2020 about the State Government's proposed new Planning Legislation -
Question: Does the City support the changes to introduce new, streamlined development application process for projects valued at more than $30 million, abolish the requirement for small businesses to seek change-of-use approvals in town centres and commercial areas as well as allowing small projects like patios, decks and extensions to be exempt from planning approval?
Answer: The State is proposing extensive amendments to the Planning and Development Act 2005 (WA). Numerous changes have been proposed and the City sees value in a number of the proposals particularly given many have been proposed over many years under ‘Planning reform’.
The City is encouraged to see proposals relating to assisting small businesses and town centres, exempting certain proposals from planning approval have merit and are examples where Local Government have been consulted. The City of Cockburn is in support of the Minister of Planning’s efforts to introduce a number or Planning Reforms to streamline the Planning system.
However, the City is concerned with the Western Australian Planning Commission as the new decision-making authority for all significant development proposals. The other is the creation of a “Special Matters” Development Assessment Panel (DAP) that would not have a local Elected Member representative. Local Government, including the City of Cockburn, has not been consulted on these 2 proposals.
- No justification - Local Governments including Cockburn already process DAs efficiently, easily meeting statutory timeframes imposed by the State, both through the DAPs pathway and through the local assessment framework
- The role of Local Government with its focus on community representation and planning for communities should not be seen as an obstacle in the development process
- Bypassing important steps, such as design review panels and public consultation could compromise development outcomes. Sophisticated local planning frameworks produce better outcomes for the community and the proponent
- Proposals valued over $30m make up approximately 10 per cent of all applications to a DAP in WA. Establishing an entirely new system for a handful of applications does not align with the principles of having a streamlined planning system and could increase red tape
- The Minister already has call-in powers to deal with development applications
- One of the main reasons for this proposal is delays in the strategic referral processes to State Agencies. For example it’s difficult for local government to coordinate consultation with multiple transport agencies. The City strongly supports the DPLH to assist in coordinating State Agencies however this can be achieved by introducing statutory timeframes on referral agencies. This would hasten all applications referred to agencies, not just ‘significant’ applications
- Removal of democratically locally elected members from the planning process could undermine transparent planning decisions
- No involvement of local planning expertise, leading to approvals that could conflict with community values, needs and expectations. A newly established planning team would need to have a comprehensive knowledge of dozens of local planning schemes and thousands of accompanying policies
- Not aligned with community sentiment. A significant component of the community rejects a State Government ‘top down’ approach to infill development across the Perth Metropolitan area
- No evidence has been provided to support the proposition that this proposal would have a positive effect on the state or local economies.
Question: How many development applications has the City of Cockburn received over the last three years which meet the criteria? Ie. More than $30 million, including more than 100 dwellings or minimum 20,000 sqm?
Answer: Over the last three years the City has only received four development applications that meet the specified criteria.
Question: What potential pitfalls are there with the new laws?
Answer: Of concern –
- Community engagement will be facilitated by a centralised State body with limited understanding of local communities and the detailed consideration required for individual neighbourhoods and centres
- Elected members and City experts will not be included in decision-making
- The proposals will bypass the State Design Review Panel, which was only recently set up by the State Government to ‘place good design at the heart of all development’ and to raise the bar for quality outcomes for State Significant proposals
- It is unclear who will be the building permit authority or the compliance authority – Local or State Government? The State does not have expertise and experience in local matters to effectively inform these processes. Concern relates to the legacy issues of poor decision making – will DPLH be the contact into the future for these specific projects when the community and proponents have enquiries regarding waste collection, access issues or health-related matters? Or will Local Government have to deal with poorly informed decisions that last into the future?
Question: What projects in the City of Cockburn, if any, could be brought forward under these new laws?
Answer: The Gateways Structure Plan Amendment 4 was recently approved by the WAPC for a significant mixed use precinct development including up to 1,000 dwellings, retail and commercial expansion of approximately 50,000sqm to the existing Gateways development. A development application of this size would fit the criteria.
Should the Bill be supported the proposal would be assessed by DPLH, not by the State Design Review Panel and would not include local expertise on matters that impact local residents.
Community engagement would be run by, and considered by, centralised DPLH officers and this is particularly concerning given the proposal will be contributing to Cockburn’s largest activity centre.
The proposal would not be considered by the local Joint Development Assessment Panel (includes elected members from the City), which the State Government set up to deal with major development applications.
Question: What measures has the City already undertaken, or is considering, to reduce red tape for businesses as well as major developments?
Answer: The City has undertaken a range of actions to improve support for businesses including in the areas of: Improving customer experience with system/website enhancements that improve assessment efficiencies as all application are able to be lodged electronically.
In response to COVID-19 the City is promoting a range of initiatives through the
Cockburn Restart Hub.
The City has a dedicated Business Engagement Officer who works collaboratively with the City’s various services including Statutory Planning.
Cockburn promotes and undertakes effective pre-lodgement meetings for major developments and this includes significant proposals being supported through the City’s Design Review Panel which has been in place for 18 months and is represented by panel members with significant design experience.