Frequently Asked Questions

The Nedlands Town Centre includes mixed use and residential areas, where a variety of considerations and impacts need to be considered in relation to future development proposals in the areas.  Adopting a collaborative approach in working with the community through a Community Reference Group (CRG) will provide the opportunity for the City, engagement facilitators and the community to work together in developing appropriate responses to how to respond to future development proposals for the respective areas. 

The CRG is an advisory group only, not a decision-making group. Decisions relating to the final development of the Nedlands Town Centre Plan are the responsibility of City Administration, Council, and Western Australian Planning Commission. 

Participation in the CRG will be open to key stakeholders (landowners, residents, business owners, workers) within the following area: 

Selection of members for the CRG will be in accordance with the Terms of Reference. 

A precinct plan is a plan to guide the design, assessment and control of subdivision, land use and development in a precinct. Draft State Planning Policy 7.2: Precinct Design, and the supporting Guidelines, outline the process for preparing a precinct plan.

The City was intending to hold off on formal advertising of the draft precinct plan, until such time as the built form and traffic modelling (identified in the Implementation section of the draft precinct plan) was finalised. This would allow the draft precinct plan to be revised based on the outcomes of this modelling work. 

However, given that major development applications are already being received for sites within the Town Centre, the City is commencing formal advertising of the draft precinct plan so that there is some guidance for development in the Town Centre which can be used in assessing these development applications. 

On completion of the built form and traffic modelling (scheduled for mid-2020), the draft precinct plan will be revised based on the outcomes of this work. 

The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) released Draft State Planning Policy 7.2 – Precinct Design (Draft SPP 7.2) in August 2019 for public comment. Draft SPP 7.2 sets out a sound planning rationale by which to develop a planning instrument for an urban infill area. It was originally considered the most appropriate tool to investigate and resolve the issues surrounding the Town Centre. However, as Draft SPP 7.2 is not yet operational, any precinct plan prepared in accordance with it would not have statutory effect under the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015.

The local planning controls proposed as part of the precinct plan can also be implemented through a local planning policy (LPP), which can be prepared for matters relating to planning and development and may include both strategic and operational considerations. It is therefore proposed that the Nedlands Town Centre Precinct Plan be adopted as an LPP.

The Draft Nedlands Town Centre Precinct Plan Local Planning Policy (LPP) does not seek to rezone any property or change any density codes. The changes to the zoning and density codes have already taken effect through the gazettal of the Local Planning Scheme No. 3 in April 2019. The Draft Nedlands Town Centre Precinct Plan LPP endeavours to set a vision for the town centre and to adopt some built form controls as well as addressing movement, land use and public realm.

As part of the Minister’s modifications to Local Planning Scheme No. 3 prior to gazettal, the R-AC1 density code was applied to the Town Centre area and the urban corridor for the full length of Stirling Highway within the City of Nedlands. A clause was also inserted into the Scheme text that specifically removed any reference to a building height as specified by the Residential Design Codes. 

The Draft Nedlands Town Centre Precinct Plan Local Planning Policy (LPP) was intended to provide further guidance on appropriate building heights within the Town Centre, and the Built Form section of the policy therefore contains provisions to this effect. 

Following the 24 September 2019 Council Meeting, where Council resolved to adopt the policy for advertising, the City received advice from the Western Australian Planning Commission. This advice was that any local planning policy prepared for the Town Centre should not seek to control building height, because such controls would be inconsistent with clause 26 (3) of the City's Local Planning Scheme No. 3. The proposed building height controls in the policy will therefore not be given statutory weight in the assessment of development applications within the Town Centre. Building height controls are intended to be removed from the final version of the policy, however the City will still look to provide built form controls in the policy through other means (such as plot ratio and building setbacks). 

As part of the State Government’s planning for the future, Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million set out a planning framework which involves a target of almost 4400 dwellings to be provided within the City of Nedlands by the year 2050. In order to meet those targets the City of Nedlands has identified through its Local Planning Strategy that the concentration of density should be along Stirling Highway and within proximity to the Mixed Use activity corridor. In order to accommodate the number of dwellings required, the scale and intensity of land use on the highway will inevitably increase and as such building heights and scale will be significantly different to what is currently present.

The project timeframes for the Draft Nedlands Town Centre Precinct Plan Local Planning Policy (LPP) are:

• Landowner consultation workshop: 16 August 2019
• Community consultation (400m radius) workshop: 17 August 2019
• Preparation of draft LPP: 19 August - 30 August 2019
• Draft LPP presented to Council to adopt for advertising: 24 September 2019
• Undertaking further work to inform community engagement: October 2019 - June 2020
• Consultation on LPP with wider community: early 2020
• Presentation of LPP to Council for adoption: late 2020

The development application for the ALDI supermarket and associated retail/dining at 90 Stirling Highway, Nedlands, was approved by the Metro West Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) on 14 November 2018. This approval is valid for a period of three years. If the development is substantially commenced within this three-year period, then it will not need to comply with any further provisions of an adopted Draft Nedlands Town Centre Precinct Plan Local Planning Policy (LPP). If development is not substantially commenced within this time, then the approval will expire and a new development application will need to be submitted and this would be assessed against any adopted Draft Nedlands Town Centre Precinct Plan LPP. It is worth noting that the application was considered prior to the adoption and gazettal of the City of Nedlands Local Planning Scheme No.3 as well as State Planning Policy State Planning Policy 7, and Residential Design Codes Volume 2 – Apartments, which are now applicable to this site irrespective of the Draft Nedlands Town Centre Precinct Plan LPP.

The Woolworths Group have lodged a development application with the City for the upgrade of the Captain Stirling Hotel, and construction of a supermarket, speciality shops, food and beverage tenancies and kiosks, pharmacy, medical centre and a gym at 80 Stirling Highway, Nedlands (the Captain Stirling Development). The Draft Nedlands Town Centre Precinct Plan Local Planning Policy (LPP) is being presented to Council for adoption to advertise prior to the City’s Responsible Authority Report for the Captain Stirling Development being due with the JDAP. If the Draft Nedlands Town Centre Precinct Plan LPP is adopted by Council for advertising, then it will be given due regard in the City’s consideration of the Captain Stirling Development application.