Western Australia Planning: Updates and What You Need to Know
Progress is finally being made to improve the consistency of local planning schemes in Western Australia, while the WA State Government has also launched a new initiative placing ‘good design’ at the centre of all new development.
The introduction of new WA planning regulations in late 2015 promised to deliver greater consistency across local planning regimes, through the introduction of standard land use definitions (including ‘Bulky Goods Showroom’ and ‘Trade Supplies’ for Large Format Retail activities). This was strongly welcomed by the industry, given the challenges encountered with wildly inconsistent definitions across local planning schemes state-wide.
In the years following, it was disappointing to see several local planning schemes approved with non-standard ‘Bulky Goods Showroom’ definitions, contrary to the regulations. While such variations appear relatively minor at first glance, their effect was to unduly limit the range of retailers qualifying as a ‘Bulky Goods Showroom’, thus preventing their approval in many Large Format Retail precincts.
The Large Format Retail Association (LFRA) made strong representations to the WA Planning Commission and other stakeholders in recent years, advocating for consistent rollout of the standard land use definitions. We have now seen these standard definitions applied to numerous planning schemes in the last three months, including the City of Nedlands, Town of Victoria Park and City of Busselton schemes. This signals a positive shift toward greater consistency, which the LFRA will continue to monitor and advocate for going forward.
Separately, the State Government has progressed ‘Design WA’ – an initiative aimed at elevating the importance of good design and ensure it is at the centre of all new development in Western Australia. The new State Planning Policy 7.0: Design of the Built Environment establishes ten high-level design principles applicable to all residential, commercial, retail and other development, along with a framework for ‘design review’ to occur during the development assessment process.
The design of all new development, including Large Format Retail centres and precincts, needs to consider and respond to the high-level design principles. In some cases, consideration by an advisory ‘Design Review Panel’ may also be required during the development assessment process, particularly for larger developments.
Beyond this high-level policy, the WA Planning Commission is currently preparing further detailed guidance for specific development types. This includes a new ‘Precinct Design’ policy (potentially applicable to new Large Format Retail precincts), along with a review of existing State Planning Policy 4.2: Activity Centres for Perth and Peel. The LFRA provided early input to the policy review, and will continue to advocate on behalf of the industry as further details emerge.
Further information on ‘Design WA’ can be found on the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage website at www.dplh.wa.gov.au/designwa
Scott Vincent, Associate, Planning Solutions
