CockburnCoast - Western Australian Planning Commission

CockburnCoast
• responsive to climate change; and
• maintain biodiversity.
Social
• site responsive design;
• high levels of connectivity;
• maximise safety/wellbeing;
• interpret sites of significance;
• diverse housing form/dwelling type;
• range of housing affordability options;
• social diversity/integration;
• high speed/frequent public transport;
• access to public transport;
• maximise alternate modes of transport;
• community and stakeholder consultation and participation;
and
• universal access design.
Economic
• maximise public benefit (financial) from expenditure;
• maximise scale and diversity of employment base;
• promote economic development and employment
opportunities; and
• best practice information technology and
telecommunications.
A weighting process enabled all members of the Cockburn coast
reference group to have individual input into the framework, and to
arrive at an overall group average weighting. To do this, the relative
importance of each strategy was scored by reference group
members, with each strategy given a ranking out of 10 (10 being the
most important, 1 being least important). Each sustainability
component was given equal weighting (33.3 per cent) and each
strategy listed a relative percentage within each component.
The results of the weighting exercise demonstrated that:
• maximising water efficiency is the most important
environmental consideration;
• access and frequency of public transport are the most
important social considerations; and
• best practice information technology and communications
and maximising public benefit from expenditure are the
most important economic considerations.
The full results of the strategy weighting exercise are shown in Table
8.1.
The strategies have been weighted by their importance in achieving
the principles. These strategies and their relative weighting form the
basis for the Cockburn coast sustainability framework. The
parameters used in the weighting process are consistent with the
triple bottom line measures used in sustainability reporting
frameworks.
To enable the sustainability tool to function as part of the structure
plan development and assessment process, a series of measures
were developed. The measures help to determine the level of
compliance of the structure plan.
8.5 Cockburn coast
measures and rating
In response to the challenge set by the State Sustainability Strategy,
the WAPC has developed a suite of policies and strategies to
achieve more sustainable development outcomes, ranging from
overarching statements of planning policy, to the Directions 2031
policy, down to the subdivision design guide Liveable
Neighbourhoods.
The sustainability measures for the structure plan area were sourced
from federal and State policies such as the Greenhouse Policy and
State Sustainability Strategy and from WAPC planning statements
and policies. At a local level, criteria from the City of Cockburn Local
Planning Strategy and data sets from the 2006 ABS Census have
been included. The key data sets are:
• base demographics;
• dwelling types/household types;
• likely dwelling typology based on projected household
types;
• current local and regional employment base worker
profile; and
• employment targets/self-sufficiency.
The list of criteria was refined on the basis that they were relevant to
the local Cockburn situation, easily understood, measurable,
comparable and with base data and targets that could be readily
accessed or prepared quickly. Subsequent reviews should always
assess the applicability of the criteria and should consider the
introduction or deletion of new or existing criteria on their merits.
Based on these measures, structure plan options that respond very
well to the more important considerations, as weighted by the
reference group, would score more highly. Those which respond
less well to important considerations will not be scored as highly.
For example, options and proposals for the structure plan area were
to be scored on the basis of achieving a minimum 40 per cent
employment self-sufficiency ratio. Extra points were awarded to
those development proposals that provide additional employment
potential in more innovative industries and added to the diversity of
the local employment base.
While some elements are measured against a matrix (as in the case
of housing) other measures or criteria are presented in checklist
format (it either meets the criteria or it doesn't). This applies to the
remainder of the social and economic sections and the whole
environmental section.
Following testing and refinement of the framework, it was
considered an appropriate tool to enable preliminary assessment of
the structure plan options.
The sustainability framework was used to assess the planning
options that were developed. The outcomes of this assessment
process were used when developing and refining the concept plans
and preferred structure plan.
104 district structure plan