Plan endorsed for Wanneroo town centre redevelopment

A PLAN for the Wanneroo town centre will encourage development up to nine storeys and restrict the number of fuel stations.

Wanneroo council recently endorsed an activity centre plan for the town centre, which extends from bushland north of the civic centre and St Anthony’s School to Ariti Avenue south of Wanneroo Showground.

“Wanneroo town centre is the historic and civic heart of the City and undergoing a period of growth and revitalisation,” a council report said.

“The proposed activity centre plan establishes a comprehensive planning framework which will guide the long-term future development of a vibrant, progressive and prosperous town centre.”

During public consultation earlier this year, the City received 17 submissions, with seven from State departments or service agencies and the rest from or on behalf of landowners within the centre.

Issues raised included permissibility of land uses, function of Wanneroo Road, residential density and built form.

“Several submissions have raised concerns with the uses ‘service station’, ‘car wash’, ‘drive through food outlet’ and ‘residential building’ not being preferred uses in the commercial zone,” the report said.

With five existing fuel stations within a 1km stretch of Wanneroo Road, some submissions said those businesses should be able to develop further without the threat of being ‘non-conforming’.

They also said it made “no sense” to list drive through food outlets as ‘not preferred’ uses given the number of those premises that already fronted Wanneroo Road.

“The activity centre plan seeks to limit new developments of these uses in order to promote a more compact, diverse and higher density town centre,” the report said.

“After review by administration, it is recommended that the use ‘drive through food outlet’ be changed to an acceptable use in the commercial zone, subject to the built form being appropriate for a town centre location.”

The report said Wanneroo Road would remain the main distributor road and traffic volumes on it south of Dundebar Road were expected to increase 20 per cent by 2031.

In relation to residential density, it said the plan envisaged developing the town centre would yield 2000 to 3000 dwellings that could accommodate up to 6600 people and promoted diversity of housing types.

“Significantly increasing the residential population of the Wanneroo town centre is crucial for the revitalisation of the centre,” it said.

Owners of Servite land and Ingham’s land asked for future residential density codes to be lower than the plan’s proposed R60 and R100 amid concerns those were “ambitious” and could constrain development.

“The City is able to entertain subdivisions and developments lower than the R60 or R100 shown on the activity centre plan without the need to modify the densities,” the report said.

The plan proposed that building heights should peak at up to nine storeys at the core around Wanneroo Central Shopping Centre and reduce to a maximum height of three storeys on the outer edges.

The report said about 39 per cent of the town centre would be public open space, including Wanneroo Showground.

One submission sought clarification on a “green link” and administration advised it would offset the loss of vegetation when development took place on Lot 9000, which is land owned by the Order of the Servants of Mary between the civic centre, school and Ingham’s.

“The green link is intended as a central spine through the northern portion of the town centre to promote a sense of place and contribute to a ‘green’ town centre,” it said.

Councillors unanimously endorsed the plan, which councillor Samantha Fenn said the plan would create better outcomes for a more “sustainable and financially viable city centre” and support residential growth in east Wanneroo.