CITY OF JOONDALUP LOCAL PLANNING SCHEME N0.3.
PROPOSED SCHEME AMENDMENT NO 6 (STANDARD AMENDMENT)
Residents would have seen the City of Joondalup notice at the traffic circle entrance to the Joondalup Resort advertising the Proposed Scheme Amendment to allow the land uses of “Group Dwelling” and “Multiple Dwelling” on the Joondalup Resort and Country Club land parcels which are subject to conditions. The land parcels cover all the property of Joondalup Resort and Country Club. Information on the proposal and how residents can make a submission are stated as being available on the “Community Consultation” section of the City’s website joondalup.wa.gov.au. Submissions will be accepted until Thursday 1 October 2020.
CRA has been in consultation with representatives of the Resort and the City in an effort to obtain a better understanding of what the implications of the Amendment are as the documents on the City’s website do not present a clear picture of what the proposal means.
This write up has been prepared to provide residents with a better understanding so that the implications can be considered on the basis of facts rather than unclear assumptions.
Representatives of CRA met with the City’s Director of Planning and Community Development, Dale Page and tabled a number of issues which have been responded to and are quoted as follows:
“There are around 45 properties in the City of Joondalup that are zoned “Private Community Purposes” under the City’s planning scheme. These properties are developed with a variety of different uses like churches, community centres and facilities, schools, child care centres, hospitals, caravan parks, short stay accommodation and private clubs(including the Joondalup Resort and Country Club).
It is currently possible, under this zoning, for the owners of these properties to develop their land with Grouped Dwellings (townhouses/units) and Multiple Dwellings (apartments)-including the Joondalup Resort and Country Club
When the State Government approved the City’s new planning scheme it advised the City to do an assessment of the properties that are not suitable for residential development and to amend its planning scheme. The City did this assessment and considered that most of the 45 properties are not suitable, but two, including Joondalup Resort and Country Club are a little different.
Over the years the Resort and Country Club indicated they may wish in future to develop a portion of their land for residential purposes and that the size and topography of the land would allow some residential development to occur without impacting the surrounding community.
Therefore, the Scheme Amendment proposes to allow the Resort to retain their current rights to develop residential on their land. The scheme amendment is not proposing to give any additional rights to the Resort but they have been singled out because the scheme amendment proposes not to remove their current rights.
It is important to note that the proposed amendment will place tighter controls around any future residential development on the site, than what currently exist. These will include a density code which sets out the planning controls of the land, like building height, setbacks etc. At present there are no planning controls to assess a proposed residential development against.
What the scheme amendment proposes is to place a condition on the Resort site that would require the submission and approval of a Local Development plan before a planning application for any residential uses can be considered. For example the Local Development Plan would prescribe appropriate planning controls like building height and setbacks, the number of dwellings, landscaping and the location of development within the site. The Local development plan would require public consultation and would need to be approved by Council.
In summary, the scheme amendment does not give any additional land use rights to the Resort. It simply allows them to retain their existing ability to develop residential on their site BUT also puts in place an additional planning layer or mechanism to ensure that any future form of development is appropriate for the site and for the broader locality.”
Having received this response CRA raised further queries on process and whether submissions from residents are to approve the amendment or otherwise.
A summary of the response from the Director of Planning and Community Development is also quoted here:
“The community does not get to approve the amendment neither does the City-the Minister for Planning does. However, it is not a foregone conclusion and the consultation with the community is genuine and any views and feedback are taken into account when the City makes its recommendation to the Western Australian Planning Commission and the Minister. It should be noted that community views are one factor taken into account with planning decisions; there are others, so community resistance to a proposal does not automatically mean the proposal should not be supported. Sometimes a proposal may change or even be refused if the community opposes a proposal for valid planning reasons”.
It is hoped this write up provides residents with a better understanding of what is being proposed. Residents are encouraged to provide feedback to the City by accessing the form through its website under the section, “Community Consultation”.
CRA is available to assist if there are further comments or queries through its email address which is info@connollywa.org.au, its website or face book page.
Bryan Thorn.
Chair.
21 September 2020