Balcatta Stirling Local Area Plan - City of Stirling

What is Local Area Planning?
Local area planning is a contemporary approach to planning that
concentrates on planning for a defined area, rather than broad
plans that cover the entire City, or strategies based on individual
issues. This approach allows a comprehensive range of issues to
be considered at both the local and regional level and addresses
these issues through integrated planning strategies. It requires a
holistic approach to planning which seeks to incorporate
stakeholders and community members into the planning process in
a collaborative approach to community building. Local area
planning is a proactive, rather than reactive, process that enables
the integration of social, environmental and economic initiatives into
one plan that guides both the short and longer term direction of a
local area.
This method of planning is used extensively in Australia and
internationally and is increasing in prominence in Western Australia,
both within local governments and State planning agencies. Local
area planning is similar to ‘precinct planning’ or ‘place planning’ in
that it involves preparing a plan for an identified geographical area
in order to facilitate development, change or better management
within that area. The size of the subject area can vary – boundaries
can be defined by a number of criteria, such as land use, character,
population and identified boundaries. However the size of the area
selected is based more so on management systems and the
objectives of the project.
The local area planning system acknowledges that the City is not
uniform in character and function and that community values and
issues of concern can vary from place to place. A focus on smaller
areas allows local issues and the uniqueness of the area to be
explored in greater depth, whilst still considering the impact of the
area’s regional context. The process also enables closer, more
comprehensive consultation with the local community at the start of
the planning process, rather than just presenting plans to the
community and asking them to accept them. More community
involvement also creates a better exchange of knowledge and
experiences between the City and its residents and among the
community itself, thus building better understanding and stronger
ties.
Another major objective of local area planning is that it facilitates
integrated planning - different disciplines and stakeholders working
together on one plan that addresses many issues or topics. This
requires stakeholders to share information and their objectives or
aspirations for the area and enables them to work together to
develop common goals for the future direction of the area.
Integrated planning can avoid the conflicts and contradictions which
can often arise when issues are addressed in isolation to one
another. The City’s local area plans are not just planning
department documents, they are strategies, reference documents
and decision making guides for all the City’s business units, for
Council, developers, land owners and the community.
Local area planning in the City of Stirling divides the large
municipality into smaller localities to enable more fine-grained
planning, community consultation and management. Twelve
individual local areas have been identified within the City (shown
overleaf). Each local area is an area of a manageable size with a
somewhat similar character that is generally defined by physical
and identifiable boundaries, such as suburb boundaries, major
roads, and where appropriate, changes in land use character or
density.
CITY OF STIRLING 16
BALCATTA-STIRLING LOCAL AREA PLAN