Subiaco: Councillors push for draft planning scheme submissions

THE City of Subiaco has received around half of the submissions the City of Nedlands received for its draft Local Planning Scheme (LPS) with less than two weeks to go until the official closing date for public feedback.

Acting chief executive Rochelle Lavery said on Friday more than 500 submissions had been received in relation to draft LPS 5 and the draft Local Planning Strategy.

The City of Nedlands received more than 1000 submissions from their public consultation period.

The need for submissions was discussed in Tuesday’s council meeting last week.

After a failed amendment to item C1 to publish a notice explaining changes to the current Town Planning Scheme amidst the draft LPS, Cr David McMullen presented an item for deliberation under business of an urgent nature.

The item proposed letters be sent to all households directly affected by changes to density in draft LPS 5.

“We haven’t formally taken any action as a council – this is a chance to communicate something as opposed to nothing,” Cr McMullen said.

“You might think we’ve done enough, but there’s no letter gone out that says what this says – this gives us a bit of ownership and allows us to do something in the dying hours of this process.”

Cr Jodi Mansfield said she appreciated the sentiment behind the move, but said a mail out had already been done.

“There are a number of activities planned in coming weeks – to me, that’s sufficient on top of a successful campaign,” she said.

Cr Stephanie Stroud said people tended to leave things until the last minute, and the people she had spoken to were planning on making a submission.

Cr Peter McAllister said he had been doorknocking for weeks and found people to be quite informed on the draft LPS.

The City estimated a cost of $20,000 to $25,000 for the new letterbox drop, and said it was due to priority mail and going to a mail house at this late stage.

The motion was lost 4-6.

After some debate on whether the motion could be brought back, Cr McMullen’s proposal for a letter was raised again but amended to be published on the City’s website and in local newspapers.

The changed motion was carried 9-1.

Submissions close for Subiaco’s draft LPS 5 on Friday, July 13.