City of Wanneroo flags changes to granny flat policy

POTENTIAL changes to a City of Wanneroo policy affecting granny flats will be made available for public comment.

Amendments to its policy on ancillary accommodation will be open for consultation after being supported by councillors at their October 11 meeting.

Following a review of the previous policy, the city is seeking to amend and remove existing provisions and introduce new requirements.

The definition of ancillary accommodation will remain as a “self-contained dwelling on the same lot as a single house which may be attached to, integrated with or detached from the single house.”

However, it has proposed to add an explanation that ‘self-contained’ means that it should provide a bathroom, toilet and kitchen facilities, as well as being either detached from a main house or integrated into it.

Detached extensions such as a games, sewing or pool rooms are not considered ancillary accommodation when they do not have these facilities.

The city is also seeking to delete the distance requirement of 20m between the ancillary accommodation and main dwelling as it “could be onerous on landowners”.

“There is often sufficient reason for ancillary accommodation to be constructed at a distance of more than 20m from the main dwelling, such as to provide privacy…or to position an ancillary accommodation so that occupants can care for and manage activities occurring on the land,” the report said.

It said the requirement was to contain planning impacts on the surrounding area but the city considered these could be addressed through its district planning scheme provisions relating to boundary setbacks and clearing requirements.