Yanchep service station plan fuels residents’ anger

PLANS for a fuel station opposite Old Nursery Park have raised alarm among Yanchep residents.

The City of Wanneroo has invited submissions on plans for the BP convenience store and two showrooms on the corner of Yanchep Beach Road and Newman Road.

Newman Road resident Mel Atarau said the traffic generated would be a big issue for families with children and was concerned a traffic assessment was not based on the latest population figures of Yanchep and Two Rocks.

The mother of three said if the fuel station was built, it would not be safe for her seven-year-old daughter to ride a bike to school.

Bob Figg said if there was a fire at the fuel station, it could require evacuation of the Bethanie Beachside aged care facility and Yanchep Lagoon Primary School, which were located on the other side of the park.

Ken Sambell, who lives opposite the proposed access road to the site, said he was concerned about the volume of traffic increasing as well as the health effects of fuel fumes carried on prevailing winds.

Online readers suggested Two Rocks would be a better location for a fuel station as that suburb had none while Yanchep had three.

Mrs Atarau said residents were not opposed to commercial development at 11 Yanchep Beach Road and suggested a surf shop, newsagent or cafe would be better than a fuel station.

The consultation period will close on September 11 and the City will prepare a report for the Metro North-West Development Assessment Panel to consider.

Visit www.wanneroo.wa.gov.au for more information.

TRYRA briefed on fuel station consultation, deadline extended

CITY of Wanneroo representatives attended the Two Rocks Yanchep Residents Association meeting last night to explain the planning approval and consultation processes for a fuel station application.

The City received an application for a BP fuel station with six bowsers, convenience store and two showrooms on the corner of Yanchep Beach Road and Newman Road on August 2 and under planning laws has 90 days to assess it.

Residents at the August 27 meeting were told the applicant had opted to have the proposal determined by the Metro North-West Development Assessment Panel and therefore the council would not decide whether to approve it.

City staff however, will assess the application and submissions received during public consultation then prepare a report for the panel, including a recommendation on whether it should be approved or refused.

In response to community concerns that consultation for residents within 250m was not wide enough, the City agreed to send letters to properties within 500m and extend the submission deadline by a week to September 18.

“We’ve doubled that range for community consultation and pushed out the date so it’s a longer timeframe,” Wanneroo Mayor Tracey Roberts said.

The City has already received about 40 submissions since consultation started last week, and residents were told those who lodged written submissions would be notified of the panel meeting date once it was set.

They were advised that the application could only be considered on valid planning matters, including impact on traffic, amenity, environment and noise levels but not property values and commercial viability.

Residents heard that the site was zoned for a service station use in the 1980s and two previous development applications for fuel stations were approved.

The first was by the then Shire of Wanneroo in 1990 and by the City in 2010 following a State Administrative Tribunal appeal after the council deferred making a decision twice.

However, in both cases the approval lapsed because construction did not start within two years.

The site is currently zoned ‘business’ under the district planning scheme, and a fuel station is one of many permitted uses.

Resident Bob Figg said the traffic report did not seem to take into account the extra traffic in the area, including those travelling on Brazier Road.

Mr Figg said the site seemed to fall between two structure plans and suggested the City look at including it in the review of its foreshore structure plan.

TRYRA members agreed to send a letter to the City asking it to review policies and bring the site under the foreshore plan.