Minister decides on Amendment No. 46 ‘South Perth Station Precinct’

Planning Minister Donna Faragher has considered Amendment No. 46 to the City of South Perth’s Town Planning Scheme and requested the City make modifications before approval is given.

In a media statement issued by the Minister’s office on Friday 16 December 2016, Ms Faragher said she had accepted recommendations of the Western Australian Planning Commission and included advice from the Office of the Government Architect.

The Minister has not prescribed absolute height restrictions in the South Perth Station Precinct (SPSP), however has introduced provisions that mean proposals within the ‘Special Design Area’ which seek additional height above the basic height limit are to be referred to a Council-nominated design review panel and meet stringent performance-based design criteria.

The amendment will include the following provisions:

• Maintaining the current extent of the ‘Special Design Area’ on Mill Point Road north of Judd and Ferry streets, to the intersection with Scott Street and Frasers Lane

• Proposals within the Special Design Area which seek additional height above the basic height limit are to be referred to a Council-nominated design review panel or any other suitably qualified consultants

• The introduction of street setbacks (between two and four metres) to protect existing street trees and allow for new street trees to be planted

• A requirement to undertake a traffic impact study which includes consideration of the cumulative traffic impact of concurrent development within the amendment area

• A cap on residential car parking in developments seeking discretionary height to limit traffic generation.

The City will meet with government authorities this week to obtain full details of the Minister’s modifications.

Background
Amendment No. 46 was initiated by the City to rectify anomalies, clarify ambiguities and strengthen performance criteria for building height variations relating to development provisions affecting the SPSP.

Following an extensive and comprehensive consultation period during which the community were provided with two opportunities to comment, in April 2016, the Council unanimously endorsed the amendment and it was sent to the Minister for Planning. The amendment was then referred to the WA Department of Planning in May 2016, with the Minister making her determination on 16 December 2016.