Rarely A Dull Moment - What Happened At The Planning Framework Committee on 19 October?

Welcome back to our regular feature, Rarely a Dull Moment where we report on the highlights of City of Fremantle Council and Committee meetings and other activities. We would have titled the feature Never a Dull Moment, but didn’t want to overpromise!

In 2026, we are very pleased to welcome Jenny Archibald to the RADM desk. Jenny will be well known to many Freo folk as a former Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillor of the City of Fremantle. Jenny brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her role as our RADM reporter and we are sure Shipees will look forward to her regular RADM reports.

Welcome readers to our RADM report for the Planning Framework Committee of 19 October 2026.

And what a mammoth meeting it was for an equally mammoth topic!

With just 3 minutes under four hours of debate, the Committee was chaired by Councillor Williamson Wong and attended by Mayor Lawver and Crs Sullivan, Clark and Slaughter. Over that time, they worked through 15 amendments for PFC2610-1 ENDORSEMENT FOR ADVERTISING OF DRAFT CITY OF FREMANTLE LOCAL PLANNING SCHEME NO. 5, two of which were withdrawn during debate.

This process is a rewrite of the almost 20-year-old Local Planning Scheme No.4 which was gazetted in 2007 and has seen over 80 amendments. The amount of work invested by City staff in this process is also mammoth, and for this they were handsomely thanked by all Committee members.

It is certainly a significant journey for our City, as far more emphasis will now need to be placed on development of policy to support and provide the detail for this new scheme. Local flavour and culture is not easily accommodated within the template scheme development process which all local governments must now comply with. Such schemes are now required to be “reformatted to fit the Model Scheme Text provided in the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015 (the Regulations)…and… must be consistent with the State Planning Policies, and Position Statements from the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC)”.

The Officers’ report summarised the task as: “The Local Planning Scheme is the City’s primary document setting out land use, building form, density and zoning within the City. It is supplemented through Local Planning Policies, which provide more localised guidance and Local Development Plans and Structure Plans which set out built form and layouts for specific areas. The new scheme is derived from the vision set out within the Local Planning Strategy, the City Plan: City Centre, and the Strategic Community Plan, all of which have been previously endorsed by Council. The Local Planning Scheme is the main instrument through which the above strategies are converted into statutory development and land use controls.”

In early 2026, the WAPC also endorsed the City of Fremantle Local Planning Strategy which sets out the intended strategy for the scheme development. The process is:

• Council endorses a scheme for advertising and refers it to the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) for review.

• DPLH Officers liaise with the City on any changes they may propose before presenting it to the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC)…which treats as a confidential item and neither the report recommendation nor the decision will be public.

• The WAPC recommendation will be referred to the Minister for Planning, who will endorse for approval, refusal, or approval with modifications for advertising.

• Only then …can the City advertise the new scheme.

• Advertising will occur for 90 days before returning it to Council to enable the consideration of submissions and make any final changes before a final recommendation to the WAPC.

• The WAPC will make a recommendation to the Minister, and then the Minister can either approve…., refuse …, or require the scheme to be modified in order to be approved.

• At this point, any modifications required by the Minister cannot be refused and amending the scheme becomes a basic administrative matter.

Perhaps a touch of “Yes Minister”?? All jest aside, it is a very big deal and the outcome should deliver greater certainty for the future of the city’s development and will no doubt be welcomed by many. Overall, this part of the process is expected to take around two years.

So back to the discussion of the night. For just a snapshot, topics focussed around:

• North Fremantle: Building heights proposed to set back above 3 storeys at two specific sites near heritage homes in Harvest Road, and Jackson Street homes were zoned mixed use to support of this street as a pedestrian link to the beach.

• Hilton: Higher density (R160 and R100) was supported along some parts of South Street

• White Gum Valley: Extension of the Neighbourhood Centre zone on the north side of South Street to all lots located to the west and fronting South Street up to the Nannine Ave intersection

• Carrington Street / Hilton centre: Cr Sullivan proposed a larger rezoning area and road-widening proposal – however given staff feedback this amendment was withdrawn

• South Fremantle: Some South Terrace lots will move from mixed use to residential,and some at R60 rather than R30, and some upzoning to R100 is proposed.

• Beaconsfield: Amendments enhancing vegetation and green links to align with the Greening Fremantle – Strategy 2020.

• City Centre:

*A land-ceding amendment around Queen Victoria and James Streets was withdrawn/deferred? to check lot details.

*Building height changes passed in principle, with lower heights proposed near Walyalup Koort and the Target site, and with greater height toward Beach Street.

In starting off the discussion, Cr Sullivan acknowledged “it is a complete rewrite. It’s not just a different version of the same old scheme…..and therefore there is also more obligation on us to get the scheme really tight because so much more of the things that are of interest topeople in Fremantle, and … the built form of Fremantle, are going to be dealt with through policy”.

Cr Clark noted that “in two decades it’s really extraordinary how much our world has changed … it’s changed how we live in Freo…who can afford to live here, to rent here or buy here. Freo, like heritage, is even more special than ever…we have more heritage buildings than anywhere in WA …we do business in those buildings…people get to live in those buildings, our tourists come to see those buildings. ….Freo is really quite a sanctuary from urban sprawl”.

And the relatively new kid on the block, Cr Slaughter, summed up, that “the biggest kind of change and something that I think meets our strategic objectives so well is this idea of an inclusive Fremantle … we’re a community of people who obviously care deeply about our space …When I think about what makes Freo so special it’s really about the way that our neighbourhoods operate…and have been designed and built…it’s felt quite lucky to grow up in that space. But… as you enter planning world, you realize that it isn’t quite luck. It’s been designed in some ways….so it feels special to be able to sit at that decision-making table”.

Cr Williamson Wong (who noted she was only 5 years old when the LPS 4 was gazetted!) moved the first amendment, seeking clarification (as a fairly newly fledged lawyer might) on the process of ceding land to Council – stating “we need to have a clear understanding of what that risk looks like for us in whether or not it would trigger compensation claims from landowners”. Such compensation claims may result from scheme amendments seeking to widen some roads, either to improve footpath capacity where higher foot traffic is expected, to increase street tree provision or seeking improved road alignment such as along Beach St….”so this amendment is really to say we need a bit more information as to whether or not that will trigger compensation”.

In response, Chloe Johnson, Manager of City Planning, indicated that “it is probably more common in other local government schemes for it to be incentive based rather than just purely ceded land …the challenge we’ve got is, with this version of the scheme, we’re trying to reduce the amount of incentive-based development”.

With that amendment supported, Cr Williamson Wong moved her second amendment regarding “zone objectives”, clarifying specifics of local centres to include medium density along with hospitality. Following some discussion on planning law and interpretation, particularly at the SAT level, it was likewise supported.

And in a trifecta, Cr Williamson Wong moved her third amendment on commercial vehicle parking and again, with minor discussion, it was also approved.

Then onto Cr Clark’s amendment for the North Fremantle area. In opening, she noted “I’m just really concerned about graduation of building heights as you come into Harvest Road. We are looking at developments that occur on busy roads like Stirling Highway … and then as you come into an area that, especially where it is a heritage area, there are many …heritage homes…So to have rows of tower blocks built and sitting right next door to individual little picket fence homes just doesn’t sit right.

Following a query from Cr Slaughter on how effective this amendment may be, the Manager of City Planning responded that “(there’s) some work that’s been done to try not to have too much density right next to these properties. We’ll also have supporting policies and processes that these developments will have to go through to get approval….The benefit of it being in a heritage area (is) we’ve got a bit more control…”. And with a bit more discussion, this amendment was also approved.

Then Cr Sullivan dropped in a late amendment on the topic to add “all lots fronting Jackson Street, North Fremantle into the Mixed-Use zone”. As he reiterated, he has “identified time and time and time again (Jackson St) as the pedestrian linkage … between the town centrethen across the railway line and through into…. the old industrial site and then to the beach. Whichever way that site turns out, there’s going to be a real need for that strong connectivity”. When asked for comment, the Manager for City Planning noted “It is near the town centre, so there’s some merit to looking at it as a mixed-use zone. It is also a street full of heritage dwellings, so the likelihood of anything changing too much in that area probably isn’t high.” With that, the amendment was then approved by the Committee.

Then next to the Hilton area, where Cr Sullivan embarked on several amendments. In considering the road widening reserve that exists along South St and the potential for this to occur in the future, selected areas were “earmarked for the sort of density that will support the neighbourhood centre….(and) the transit route down South Street”. Two amendments were proposed that adjust zoning for areas around South St/Noel St and South St/Lee Ave and Hines Rd. Following a number of questions by Cr Slaughter on density (up to R100) and access with increased traffic on South St, both were approved.

Then following considerable questions and debate, Cr Sullivan withdrew his third amendment in this area, for the Carrington Street / Hilton centre. Officers also reiterated that more traffic and design analysis would be needed. And for like reasons, Cr Sullivanwithdrew his proposed amendment on the South St and Jarvis St area.

Then to South Fremantle, where Cr Sullivan also proposed several amendments which were approved, including changing a number of properties particularly along South Tce from mixed use to residential and some residential to mixed use. His reasons included that “many are existing residences and (these) include a large number of heritage–listed residences that are not suitable for significant redevelopment…”

In addition, Cr Sullivan added amendments to “extend the R100 coded area to the Mixed Usezone bounded by South Terrace, Douro Road and Harbour Road (and) add No. 1 Douro Road, South Fremantle to the Mixed Use zone, coded R100”.

After all of that rezoning and redefinition, he moved to amendments on park and natural areas at Clontarf Hill/Hollis Park/Bruce Lee/Salatina Ridge to emphasise alignment with avery important document – the Greening Fremantle Strategy 2020.

Then Cr Sullivan moved on to modification of building heights in the central city area – a very big and debated topic. The proposed height changes are reflected in the map below:

It was exhausting working through all of the information, changes and final proposal – I feel we need another month to fully consider it all. However, the final amendments were all unanimously approved and the item will go on to the Ordinary Meeting of Council on 28 October 2026, along with a long list of other items – it will be a very big agenda – now available on the City’s website.

PS don’t forget to go to the MySay website for all of the topics that are out for public comment – there are a number….scroll down to Open Projects.

Signed off at 9.57pm. Goodnight Freo.

*By Jenny Archibald

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