The state government is set to conduct a “health check” on the suite of documents mapping out the growth of Perth and Peel.
The state government is set to scrutinise the strategy mapping out the growth of metropolitan areas, as Perth falls behind in its infill development targets.
The Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million framework is a suite of documents mapping out approaches to land use planning as the population approaches 2050.
According to the documents, published in 2018, the Perth and Peel regions combined are expected to reach 3.5 million people by 2050.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that Perth is the fastest growing capital in the nation, and reached 2.98 million in September last year.
Meanwhile, urban sprawl has been the dominant form of residential development, as infill projects such as apartments and townhomes in established areas fall behind.
Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million stipulated a target of 47 per cent of the state’s homes being made up of infill projects, with the balance of housing in greenfields areas.
But data shows that that residential development in Perth is made up of just above 30 per cent infill, as housing continues to push out to the fringes.
Speaking at an Urban Development Institute of Australia WA event this morning, Western Australian Planning Commission chair Emma Cole confirmed there would be a “health check” of the planning framework.
“It is true that there is a health check on the way for Perth and Peel at 3.5 million,” she told the audience.
“At this stage it’s not actually a review, it’s a health check, and I do need to differentiate between the two.”
Ms Cole said it was necessary to scrutinise the planning framework given the documents were prepared in a pre-Covid era.
“We’ve been through a pandemic, we’ve had a cost of living crisis, a housing crisis, we’ve got issues around labour supply, all of these different factors that that we did not know about back in 2018 when the frameworks were endorsed,” she said.
“The health check is basically putting a bit of an overlay of ‘this is where we are now’ [and looking at] how are these issues having an effect, and are there gaps.”
Ms Cole added that a lot of the underpinning principles in the Perth and Peel framework remained relevant, including having city connected by a rail network.
“The principles for me still ring true, but I think it’s about how is our implementation against the plan going,” she explained.
“Obviously infill [is] an area where we are underperforming.
“It’s probably about understanding that is that an area that, if we are to review, would we pull out some key threads that we’d like to focus on strategically to help us meet what was that 47 per cent target.
“[Given] we’re sitting just over 30 [per cent infill] that could be one of the areas where we say, ‘this is the focus’, and how would we take this framework and renovate it, as opposed to start all over again.”
The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage will take charge of the process and is expected to report to the WAPC in June.
Ms Cole said that DPLH’s determination would trigger a decision as to whether the framework needed a formal review.
“If we are to do a review, that would be quite a significant piece of work,” she said.
“We would need to get ministerial endorsement of that, and we will be definitely then undertaking consultation.
“Review for review’s sake, that’s not something that we think is timely right now, given the circumstances that we face, but if the review can help us reach the potential to deliver more housing and to actually meet the demands of today, then I think we’d be considering that.
“At this stage, it’s a pretty low touch internal health check, not expansive review.”
