Canning Highway

The City of South Perth is reviewing existing and future built form (how buildings look) along Canning Highway and the residential areas next to the highway to better manage the future development of the highway and how it relates to the surrounding development. The project also examines the impact of the future road widening for Canning Highway by the State Government. 

The project is about understanding the existing character and appearance of the buildings within the study area and discovering what sort of development the community would like to see in the future. Generally, the properties along Canning Highway can be developed to greater intensities (more height and more dwellings) and therefore it is important to manage the transition from the highway into the residential streets behind.

The project will include community engagement, urban design analysis and development of planning controls. The project takes into consideration future plans to widen Canning Highway and recent decisions made by Council regarding properties in the study area.

Key steps involved in the project include:

1. Understanding the existing built form of the area (what type of housing is there and what it looks like)
2. Discovering what sort of development is possible and what the community would like to see in the future in specific areas; along the highway, adjacent to the highway and in the suburban streets. The project includes community engagement to identify the built form that the community believes is the most appropriate transition between the high density areas adjacent to Canning Highway and the adjoining low density areas
3. Defining the ‘transition’ area. This is the area between the higher intensity development along the highway and the lower intensity development that is typical of a suburban street
4. Providing recommendations for the City to address the objectives of the project, as outlined above, and make changes to the planning scheme to achieve desirable built form in the future.

The first part of the #ShapeOurPlace project was an overview of the entire study area. This was completed in November 2015 and the final consultant’s report was endorsed by Council in March 2016. The project will progress in a number of smaller and more detailed projects to investigate specific areas and develop planning controls.

The land along Canning Highway, between Berwick and Cale Streets, and the residential streets behind, will be included in the project. Not all of the study area will be affected by the final project outcomes.

The study area includes properties along and adjacent to Canning Highway that have development potential within the existing zoning, as well as properties that are zoned for lower density suburban development. The area also includes suburban areas that, while not likely to be directly impacted by changes, are close enough that we want to consider the impacts on them and gain feedback from residents.

GHD were engaged by the City of South Perth as a consultant to undertake the first part of the project. GHD provided a report with recommendations to the City in 2015.

TPG Town Planning, Urban Design and Heritage (TPG) were engaged as a consultant to undertake the second part of the project, focussing on Kensington and South Perth between Berwick Street and Douglas Avenue.

TPG provided a report with recommendations to the City in two parts; Part A in October 2016 and Part B in May 2017.

Future parts of the project will be undertaken by City staff and consultants, as appropriate.

The aim of the project is to develop changes to the City’s Town Planning Scheme No. 6 to:

• Encourage high quality development that meets community expectations
• Protect existing amenity
• Create a harmonious built form transition from the highway to the lower density residential areas.

In developing changes to the planning scheme the City will work with consultants to analyse the built form of the area and the potential for future development and will engage with the community to understand what is desirable for the area in the future.

The project will generate community events, council briefings, reports, planning policies and changes to the City’s planning scheme. This is a long-term project and the City will involve the community as much as possible in the process. No new policies or changes to the City’s planning scheme will be made without first informing the community and providing opportunities for comment.

In 2012 the City of South Perth prepared a Draft Local Housing Strategy. The Strategy identified that there are challenges for the City between managing high density development along Canning Highway and the adjacent low density residential areas. The Strategy recommended that the City investigate medium density coding for all residential zoned lots within 100 metres of Canning Highway and Manning Road.

The project is the next phase of planning for the Canning Highway area and will be more detailed than the Local Housing Strategy. The project will identify where challenges exist for the City and recommend where medium density coding may be appropriate.

The purpose of the review is NOT to increase density throughout the study area. Many properties within the study area will remain at their current zoning and density code.

Some properties adjacent to Canning Highway are likely to experience change in the future either through redevelopment or widening of the highway itself. The project will make recommendations to manage the “interface” between the highway and lower density (R20 and R15) residential areas. However many properties within the study area will remain at their current zoning and density code.

The review will not revisit previous decisions made by Council in preparing the Local Housing Strategy in 2012.

No. Being within the study area does not necessarily mean that changes will be proposed to your street or property. However, due to the proximity to Canning Highway, you may be influenced by changes proposed as part of this project. By understanding how buildings should look within the whole study area the City of South Perth can develop tools to manage the different styles and character through the area.

Built form refers to the appearance of the building. This may include elements such as the type of development (is it a single house, townhouse, unit, apartment etc.), building height, bulk and scale, street presentation and design articulation.

• ‘Height’ means how tall the building is
• ‘Bulk and scale’ means how big/bulky the development is, particularly in relation to the street
• ‘Street presentation’ means how the development looks from the street and may include elements such as landscaping, front fences, position of garages/car ports, roof form, windows etc
• ‘Design articulation’ means the design treatments that break up the building such as using different materials, balconies, changing levels, changing setbacks (distances from the lot boundary).

Different design can lead to different built form outcomes, even within areas with the same density codes.

There are three main types of housing:

• Single house
• Grouped dwelling (villa or townhouse); and
• Multiple dwelling (apartment).

Within each of these three types of dwellings, the built form (appearance) of the building can vary by changing certain elements of the building.

These types of housing are defined in State Planning Policy 3.1 – Residential Design Codes of Western Australia (R Codes). 

There are long term plans to widen Canning Highway. The widening will accommodate:

• Two lanes of traffic in each direction
• A transit/bicycle lane in each direction
• Wider verges for pedestrians, shared use and utilities/services
• A median strip.

The process of acquiring land for the widening will take a number of years, however it can already be seen on parts of the highway where there are large grassed verges and where the buildings are significantly set back from the highway.

Whilst there is no set timeframe for the widening, it is expected to happen over the next 20 years. Timing will be largely dependent on the State Government funding and the priority of the widening compared to other parts of the Perth road network.

The area likely to be affected by road widening can be viewed on the City of South Perth Town Planning Scheme No. 6. The road reserve (the space set aside for the road) is shown as the ‘Metropolitan Region Scheme Reserve – Primary Regional Road’ along Canning Highway in the Town Planning Scheme.