Minister’s rescue package
Last Friday, Minister Day approved sixteen storeys in Subiaco.
He also made unsubstantiated claims on Channel Seven news that Subiaco Council was too slow in approving a development of the Pavilion Markets site. Of course Channel Seven and The West Australian didn’t do any of its own research, just ran with the Minister’s reasons for approving 16 storeys, a rescue package for the slow developer.
Subiaco Council is not slow. The owner purchased two sites in the locality in July 2007 for $25million and $10.670million, a total of $35.67million.
By April 2009 Subiaco Council had consulted with the developer/owner and the community, and approved a five story development with 3 levels of underground parking. This process took less than 21 months to complete. Why wasn’t it built? God knows, Subiaco could do with the parking!
So what does the Minister mean by slow?
The truth is, if we local residents and ratepayers want more density and development, we must go through the Minister’s slow and tedious process to develop a new Town Planning Scheme including:
- engaging expensive consultants developing documents for public consultation on a Local Planning Strategy starting in May 2013 and with final approval for adoption by the WA Planning Office on 27 May 2014. http://www.haveyoursaysubiaco.com.au/document/index/5
- more expensive consultants to review the Subiaco Central Development Plan to create an activity Centre Structure Plan for the Subiaco Activity Centres starting in February 2013 and endorsed by Council on 24 September 2014 for final adoption by the Minister’s WA Planning Commission:
- more consultants to develop a Place Vision and Placemaking Principles Report:
- Consulting with stakeholders on planning policy for the locality:
- Town Centre Precinct
- Hollywood Precinct
- West Subiaco Precinct
- Hay Street East Precint
- North Subiaco Precinct
- Jolimont Precinct
- Rokeby Road South Precinct
- Civic and Cultural Precinct
- Shenton Park Precinct
- University Precinct
- Daglish precinct
- Triangle Precinct Policy
- Town planning scheme register of places of cultural heritage significance
- Planning policy design guidelines for Thomas Street Square
And anything else the Minister’s WA Planning Commission dreams up for a local government to consult on before it can adopt a new Town Planning Scheme.
In the meantime, Minister Day is declaring sixteen storeys suitable for the Pavilion Markets’ site as part of his rescue package for developers who do not live in Western Australia, show no regard for the planning process the Minister is putting us through and claims we are too slow to act.
Subiaco Council is not slow. The only stakeholder considered slow in this sorry saga is the developer who did not carried out the approved development within two years of approval, from April 2009 to April 2011.
Instead the developer came to Council in 2011 seeking extreme concessions to build a 19 storey tower on the site. The community said no, so did the experts, and so did the Council. Local governments are not in the business of providing rescue packages for developers who pay too much for their properties.
However, the Minister favours developers from other states to build what they like. He’ll ignore the tedious process his Planning Commission is putting us through, and say Councils are too slow and holding up progress.
This is the most despicable planning process by the Minister and he is proud of it!
The West Australian, 11 July 2014.
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Excellent summary Cr Matheson. It deserves to be read more widely. Perhaps a potted version for the POST.