Directions Paper - Western Australian Planning Commission

Directions Paper on the Integration of NRM and Land Use PlanningThe Planning and Development Act 2005provides for the preparation of region planningschemes to deal with matters of State or regionalimportance. Regional planning schemes outlineobjectives for state and regional developmentand provide a statutory mechanism to assiststrategic planning, coordinate the provisionof major infrastructure and set aside areas forregional open space and other communitypurposes. The content of a region planningscheme normally includes broad land use zonesor policy areas and land identified for regionalpurposes. A region planning scheme usuallycovers more than one local government area.Currently regional planning schemes exist forthe Perth Metropolitan Region, the Peel Regionand the Greater Bunbury Region. Part 9 of thePlanning and Development Act 2005 requiresthat local planning schemes are consistent withregional planning schemes.5.2.2 Relevance to NRMLand use planning at a regional scale canassist achievement of NRM outcomes at thelocal level through providing a regional contextfor identifying key environmental assets anddetermining the location of development.Planning and management of natural assetssuch as rivers and biodiversity is often bestdone at a scale that reflects their natural extentand area of influence, for example a catchmentor bioregion. Regional planning provides ansignificant opportunity to consider the naturalextent and significance of environmental assetsacross a number of local governments andprovide direction for recognising and protectingthose assets through local level planning.Planning and management of coastal areasis often also done at a regional or subregionalscale to inform local level planning and decisionmaking. Regional coastal planning strategiesare particularly effective in those areas where aregional scheme does not exist as it provides aregional framework for resolving issues relatingto coastal access, recreation and tourism at thelocal level.As recognised in Chapter 4 there are a numberof State agencies responsible for the planningand management of natural resources.Regional land use planning through strategiesand structure plans can assist in facilitatingcoordination between the different agenciesresponsible for the planning and managementof natural resources. Additionally the StatePlanning Strategy states that regional planningstrategies need to give an emphasis to themanagement of natural resources such as primeagricultural land, fisheries, water catchmentsand forests. Most of the current regional andsub-regional planning strategies tend tohave a section on the environment or naturalresources that includes principles, issues,strategies and actions. Environment and naturalresource matters are often also acknowledgedin relation to content contained in regional andsub-regional strategies on issues relating toagriculture, landscape, tourism and settlementplanning.The extent to which regional planning strategiesand structure plans can consider NRM mattersis largely dependent on available informationand the commitment of the relevant Stateagencies to supporting their development andimplementation.Whilst NRM information needs to be collectedand considered within a regional context,the most effective and practical use of NRMinformation is often through local planningstrategies. Local planning strategies aregenerally prepared by individual localgovernments, but their development canbe assisted by a regional approach to theidentification and collection of information onNRM assets, development pressures and NRMland use planning issues. A regional approachto identifying and collecting information tosupport local planning strategies requires acooperative approach between the relevantState agencies and local governments.In addition to the ability to utilise regionalplanning to identify information needs and NRMpriorities to provide guidance at the local level,there are opportunities to consider NRM matters37