Directions Paper - Western Australian Planning Commission

Directions Paper on the Integration of NRM and Land Use Planning• Locate the north-south mixed use openspace/vegetation corridor as generallydepicted on the Structure Plan;• Provide a practical balance between theprotection of local vegetation, communityrequirements and provision of active andpassive parkland;• Provide a range of passive ‘pocketparks’ with a high amenity focus;• Provide good connectivity to and throughthe open spaces and ensure mostresidents are no more than 450 metresfrom an open space; and• Integration of drainage into multiple useopen space corridors to promote bestpractice water sensitive urban design.This does not preclude the use of basinswhere appropriate.Example 2:Local Structure Plan Provision relating toWater Sensitive Urban DesignFinalise the preparation and implementationof an Integrated Urban Water ManagementPlan consistent with Liveable Neighbourhoodsand DEC Stormwater management manualfor WA to incorporate best practice urbanwater management techniques including,where appropriate, stormwater harvesting,wastewater treatment and reuse (including3rd pipe technologies), water demandmanagement (including landscaping, POS,nutrient management) and overall waterquality management.The spatial plan associated with a structure planprovides a diagrammatic representation of howthe land will be developed. Natural featuresrequiring protection, such as foreshore reserves,EPP and conservation category wetlands, andvegetation protected under legislation (such asdeclared rare flora and threatened ecologicalcommunities) are identified as reserves andremoved from the subdividable area.The structure plan then identifies how theremaining area of land will be developed.Beyond those areas required to be protectedunder policy and legislation as outlined above,opportunities to achieve NRM outcomes,once land has been zoned for development,particularly urban development, withoutconsideration of key NRM factors in previousstages of planning, are limited. This is due to theassessment of structure plans being governedby statutory requirements.For example, 10% of the subdivisible area isrequired to be given up free of cost as publicopen space for both the active and passiverecreational needs of the community. LiveableNeighbourhoods contains criteria on how thispublic open space should be used, includinglimiting the protection of natural features anddrainage requirements to 2%, with the remaining8% being made available for recreational needs.This can limit the amount of locally significantremnant vegetation and natural features that canbe protected within zoned land. It is thereforeimportant that strategic level guidance has beenprovided to identify what the important assetsare to be protected and that an appropriatehead of power has been established within thelocal planning scheme enable consideration ofNRM matters within decision making.There are opportunities to build on theseminimum requirements through negotiationwith the landowner or developer, and the useof incentives such as density bonuses, offsetsand distribution of lot yields, provided thatoutcomes are consistent with State policy. Thesenegotiations should involve all parties includingthe developer, local government and the WAPCas the final approval body.Examples include:- Retaining the permitted lot yield butincreasing the density of developmentto allow greater areas to be retained forconservation purposes (ie reducing thedevelopment footprint).- Providing bonuses for improved NRMoutcomes, such as POS concessions,additional height bonuses or residentialdensity bonuses in return for increased61