Town of Cambridge puts out tender for its own precinct structure plan following backlash from residents

The Town of Cambridge has taken the next step toward creating its own vision for Floreat Forum and surrounds after months of community consultations to inform the design.

The town issued a request for tender on March 26 to hire a consultant to prepare a precinct structure plan for the Floreat activity centre.

The tender request comes after locals became frustrated that the Town of Cambridge was yet to develop a timeline to create its own plan for the Floreat site as councillors had voted to do in December.

Residents hope the town’s own plan can contest investment group APIL’s precinct structure plan, which sparked anger among locals after it proposed an 18 to 20-storey apartment complex along with multiple other high-rise towers.

The Town of Cambridge’s vision for the prime Floreat region is expected to be informed by workshops that were held to get feedback from residents on what development they want for the area.

At the workshops there was a difference of opinion on what building height was appropriate, however there was a clear line in the sand at a maximum of eight storeys.

Attendees suggested lower and more traditional mixed-use development with apartments over shops rather than stacking all the apartments up in towers.

Residents also called for the shopping centre to be rebuilt or substantially refurbished to enable a better and lower form of development where apartments sit over the shops, which was not a part of the APIL plan.

There were also suggestions for the new development to enhance Floreat’s “village” character and to bring life to the streets within the centre with cafes, restaurants and other uses.

For residents living near the proposed development site, there were calls to protect them from the impact of wind and glare from new buildings, noise from traffic, and noise and dust during construction.

The feedback from the workshops will also be used by the Town of Cambridge to assess APIL’s precinct structure plan when it is released for public advertising.

At Tuesday night’s council meeting, mayor Gary Mack continued to advocate for modifying APIL’s plan.

“We have voted to proceed with our own precinct structure plan but as I’ve mentioned in previous council meetings, there is a big risk that it won’t be ready by the time the WA Planning Commission consider APIL’s proposal,” he said.

“What I’m advocating for is that we seek to file a modification of APIL’s plan because we know for certain that it can be considered by WAPC. If we don’t do that, the WAPC will only have one version to consider and that is APIL’s.

“The risk is it is highly likely APIL will then get their way.”

Submissions for the tender process close at 2pm on Wednesday, April 17.