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Outcomes of consultation to guide new infill strategy in City of Joondalup now available

Tyler BrownJoondalup Times

THE outcomes of community consultation by the City of Joondalup as part of its review of housing opportunity areas have been made public.

In 2010, the City started developing its Local Housing Strategy where it identified 10 housing opportunity areas (HOAs) that would be suitable for higher residential density because of their proximity to train stations, high frequency bus routes and activity centres.

Since early 2016, residents in these areas have been able to redevelop their properties in line with the higher densities.

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However, many residents are concerned about the developments being proposed in these areas, including 14-unit apartments across two lots, and have called on the City to review how infill development is managed.

The council then endorsed the preparation of a new planning framework for the City’s HOAs, which would require a higher quality of design and would better manage the impact of development on existing residents and streetscapes.

The review aims to help development of a new planning framework to guide infill development, following targets set by the State Government.

External consultants were engaged to hold the review and community consultation, which included letters to 66,000 households within the City, a survey, community and industry forums, design workshops and various meetings.

The report is now available on the HOA section of the City’s website, including feedback and the consultants’ analysis of the feedback.

The executive summary said there were 10 “major themes” from survey respondents across all the HOAs in regards to housing and built form, which included concerns about density, parking and traffic, environmental impacts, poor quality developments and changing the character of the local area, as well as support for infill and transit-oriented developments.

When asked what were the two most important things that needed to be addressed in the future planning of HOAs, the 10 major themes were environment and sustainability, limiting density, social and wellbeing considerations, infrastructure, services and amenity, desired housing typologies, retaining the character of the local area, quality developments, managing impacts on neighbours, transit-oriented development, and managing parking.

The City is expected to present a report on the draft new planning framework to the council at its April meeting.

It is also expected this will be available to the public before the council briefing session on April 9.

This will only be to seek the council’s agreement to advertise the draft framework for public consultation.

If they do so, the documents will be sent to the Environmental Protection Authority and WA Planning Commission and once they give the go-ahead, the draft framework can be advertised for community feedback.

This consultation will again be assessed and presented back to the council to make a formal decision on the new framework.