Source : Perth Now news
A plan to create a “classy” Kwinana town centre will be released for comment.
The City of Kwinana council voted at its June 24 meeting to endorse a precinct plan for the town centre for public consultation.
The precinct plan covers an area bounded by Sulphur Road to the north, Meares Avenue to the east, Challenger Avenue to the south, and Gilmore Avenue to the west
It is intended to guide the development and growth of this area, which has been called the “premium” commercial activity centre in Kwinana, for the next 20 years.
It covers about 31ha and proposes turning Chisham Avenue into a main street, and allowing taller buildings and greater housing density.
Retail floor space is also planned to be increased from 33,000sqm to 50,000sqm, which is expected to create about 500 new jobs.
There are 105 residential dwellings in the area but the plan is hoping for more than 900 to be created, taking its population to more than 2500 people.
Sites flagged for potential residential or mixed-use development include land north of Darius Wells Library and Resource Centre and to the south of the Kwinana Recquatic at the junction of Gilmore Avenue and Chisham Avenue.
Buildings will be allowed to go up to four to six storeys across the precinct. Buildings along Robbos Way and Chisham Avenue will be at least two storeys high to create a main street environment.
Cr Erin Sergeant said the plan secured a “level of class” of how the area would be developed.
“This is a guide to ensure that our grandchildren have a classy and fantastic Kwinana to live in,” she said.
Mayor Peter Feasey said Kwinana was the second fastest growing local government in WA and commended the plan.
He said developments in the town centre had been the catalyst for development in surrounding areas.
Cr Michael James Brown asked what the implications would be from allowing residential development near areas such as the art centre, particularly with noise.
Director city development and sustainability Greg Bowering said conflict between residential and commercial activity was common in a lot of active centres.
“There’s approaches within the health regulations and in the planning Act to ensure that residences that are likely to be impacted by noise will get notifications and will be built to a certain standard to actually mitigate the noise impacts in those areas where you do have those uses that are complementary, but not always co-existing very well,” he said.
“East Perth was a good example of that when that was first developed.
“You had the mixed-use apartments built over the bars downstairs and there was a lot of complaints which led to the bars being closed because they didn’t have the right processes in place to mitigate and make sure that those were going to work effectively together.
“Things have moved on in the last 30 years since that and we have better processes around that.”
Cr Ivy Penny asked if there would be enough parking for the expected increase in residents and visitors.
“Our studies indicate that there is parking available but not always where someone exactly wants it at the time,” Mr Bowering said.
CEO Wayne Jack said parking was a common issue across cities.
“People generally have the view that carparking should be right next to where they need to go,” he said.
“This becomes not a great use of land which is very valuable for other activities.”
Cr Balian Miller asked what would happen if most submissions opposed the plan.
Mr Bowering said staff would primarily look at the planning merits of submissions.
“It’s not a numbers game as far as we’re concerned, it’s about the quality of the issue raised,” he said.
