Canning Highway Rezoning Seen as Premature

Opting to examine findings from an upcoming Canning Bridge study, the City’s Council refused a rezoning request for a Canning Highway property in Como, at its July meeting.

The request, which was made by consultants on behalf of the 454 Canning Highway owners, called for the rezoning of the site from a Residential (R60 coding) to a Highway Commercial zone that would house offices.

Such rezoning, which could have accommodated a wide range of commercial uses or five multiple dwellings in a three-storey building, involved an increase from R60 to R80 density coding.

Refusing the request, the Council disagreed with the applicant’s claim that the site was suitable for the requested rezoning, due to the way it adjoins a commercial site with other commercial sites.

The Council also did not want to set an inappropriate precedent by approving the rezoning request.

“If we accepted this request, it would result in similar rezoning applications being made by owners of adjoining residential lots - and we have resisted the ‘creep’ of commercial zoning along Canning Highway in the past,” said the City’s CEO Cliff Frewing.

While ‘Spot rezoning’ may be approved if there are unique circumstances justifying such action - this request did not present a valid case.

As part of the State Government’s ‘Network City’ Strategy, the City is about to initiate two major studies that will examine a wide area surrounding the proposed train stations at South Perth and at Canning Bridge.

The Canning Bridge study will examine the zoning and land uses in the vicinity, including the Canning Highway / Henley Street commercial centre.

“The Council is of the opinion that, at this stage, it is premature to arbitrarily decide to expand the area of commercially-zoned land near the Canning Highway / Henley Street commercial centre - when the planned study in this vicinity has not yet commenced,” said Mr Frewing.

The first stage of the forthcoming studies will involve detailed community consultation before any development strategies are prepared.