Western Australia Minister for Planning John Day

Directions Plan Lays Framework for 2031 and Beyond

Victor P Taffa

Planning Minister John Day today released a new Planning Vision and Direction for Perth and Peel to guide the planning of the city to 2031 and beyond.

Mr. Day launched the much-anticipated spatial Planning framework, Directions 2031 and beyond, at a Planning Institute Australia (PIA) forum and said it presented a significant evolution in metropolitan strategic planning.

“Directions 2031 sets a clear vision for the Perth of the future – a city with a vibrant mix of activity areas that bring amenities, employment and education to people’s doorsteps and is well serviced by public transport.” the Minister said.

“According to ABS figures, the Perth and Peel regions are projected to grow from 1.65 million people to more than 2.2 million by 2031, requiring 328,000 new dwellings to accommodate this growth.”

“Directions 2031 are a strategic framework which will assist the State Government in the sustainable management of this growth, while allowing it to maintain the features which contribute to the quality of life enjoyed in Perth and Peel.” Mr. Day said.

Directions 2031 include housing and employment projections and a new hierarchy of activity centres connected by new and proposed movement and public transport networks.

“The development and revitalisation of new and existing activity centres is essential for the creation of more efficient, liveable environments that support economic development and reduce the need for travel,” the Minister said.

“Local communities will benefit from the creation of convenient and multifaceted hives of activity, resulting in community-focused town centres encouraging people to use their local businesses and services.”

Mr. Day said Directions 2031 sought a 50 % improvement on current infill residential trends and also on average residential density in new development areas.

“To ensure growth of the city can be sustained beyond 2031, Directions 2031 set a target of 47 %, or 154,000 of the required 328,000 dwellings, as infill development.” the Minister said.

“For new areas of development, it sets a target of 15 dwellings per gross urban zoned hectare of land.”

“Directions 2031 are more practical and detailed than the previous Labor government’s Network City strategy.  Network City had a somewhat unrealistic target of 60 % of urban growth to be achieved from infill development in the inner and middle suburbs.”

“Directions 2031 set out clear objectives, have a geographical context and are far more realistic and achievable.” Mr. Day said.

The Plan would be implemented through two sub-regional strategies for the Central Perth Metropolitan Area and the outer Metropolitan Sub-Regions of Perth and Peel, with both released today for public comment.  Public comment submissions close at 5pm, Monday, November 29, 2010.

“The central Perth Metropolitan Sub-Regional Strategy has provisionally allocated the Directions 2031 infill housing targets across the 19 Local Government Areas.”

“This is an area that extends from the City of Fremantle to the south, to the City of Stirling in the north, with the Town of Bassendean and the cities of Belmont and Canning forming the eastern boundary.” Mr. Day said.

“The outer sub-regional strategy tackles the more complex task of achieving higher density on the urban fringe.”

“This task demands careful consideration of the environment, identifying workplaces closer to where people live, and ensuring these areas have access to basic services such as clean running water, energy, management of waste and community infrastructure such as schools, health, parks and so on.”

The Minister said Directions 2031 outlined an urban expansion management program to ensure there was enough land available for development and to avoid the supply shortages and negative effect on housing affordability under the previous Labor government.

“While there is currently more than 18,600ha of land zoned either urban or urban deferred in the metropolitan and Peel region – this is the equivalent of nearly 10 Rottnest Islands – it is important to ensure rezoning of land takes place at the appropriate time in the most suitable locations.”

“The purpose of this program is to identify land ahead of the rezoning process and to stage the rezoning of that land in response to future growth trends.” Mr. Day said.

The release of Directions 2031 is in line with the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) national criteria for capital city strategic planning systems, which ensure Australian cities are globally competitive, sustainable, liveable, socially inclusive and well-placed to meet future challenges and growth.

The final report was informed by 294 public submissions on the draft strategy released in 2009.