Fremantle Herald prints City letter correcting Lake Coogee buffer article

The City of Cockburn's Letter to the Editor response (published 9.6.23) to an incorrect report in the Fremantle Herald on 3.6.23 about the Lake Coogee 'urban deferred' area in the Draft Local Planning Strategy

The City of Cockburn has not voted to amend the local planning scheme for the Lake Coogee ‘urban deferred’ area referred to in your article Breakthrough over Lake Coogee buffer, P6, Fremantle Herald, 3 June 2023.
 
At the 13 April 2023 Ordinary Meeting, Council considered the outcomes of consultation on the City’s Draft Local Planning Strategy, including actions for the Lake Coogee ‘urban deferred’ area.
 
Council resolved to support the Strategy subject to modifications. It has now been referred to the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) for endorsement.
 
The draft Strategy includes this area within ‘Planning Area E: Lake Coogee Urban Deferred Area’, and proposes investigation into whether residential development is appropriate for the area, subject to appropriate consideration of odour impacts from the Woodman Point Wastewater Treatment Plant. 
 
The State Government’s ‘Perth and Peel @3.5million’ and the underlying ‘South Metropolitan Peel Sub-Regional Planning Framework’ identified this area as an ‘Industrial Investigation Area’.
 
The draft Strategy advocates for removal of this designation, in line with the City’s investigations and feedback received from the community. 
 
To clarify this intent, Council also supported a modification to remove reference to ‘Industrial Investigation Area’ in the title description of ‘Planning Area E’
 
The draft Strategy has now been referred to the WAPC for its endorsement, and timeframes for commencing investigations into whether residential development is appropriate for the area will be determined upon WAPC approval of the Strategy 
 
In the meantime, the current zoning for the area will remain in place.
 
Carol Catherwood
Acting Chief of Built and Natural Environment
City of Cockburn