Bunbury planning policy approved after lengthy wait

Bureaucracy stalled a long-awaited new planning policy for Bunbury, according to Mayor Gary Brennan.

The Bunbury City Council had hoped to get the tick of approval on its Town Planning Scheme No. 8 last week to go out for advertising, but was still waiting on confirmation on Monday.

Mr Brennan has previously hailed the revised scheme saying it could allow for an attractive new mix of developments in the city, including multi-storey retail and residential complexes.

A review into Town Planning Scheme No. 7 started in 2011 and after submitting the updated scheme to the Department of Planning in April this year the council had been left waiting.

Mr Brennan labelled the lengthy process as “absolutely ridiculous”.

“We worked with the Department of Planning side-by-side to fast-track, or get a meeting of minds, on what the document contained,” Mr Brennan said.

“Then the Department of Planning received the document as an application for approval to advertise and they went through it for 90 days.

“Then they came back with the request to modify it, even though they worked side-by-side on it for months and months and months.”

The scheme was stalled even longer after the department requested further approval from the Environmental Protection Authority.

Mr Brennan said despite the hold up, developers who may have one eye on the new scheme were remaining patient.

“People (the developers) know it’s not the city, it’s the actual bureaucracy that approves it and it just takes too long, it’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,” he said.

A Department of Planning spokeswoman said the council’s documents were assessed by the Western Australia Planning Commission within the 90 day required period.

“The WAPC resolved to require the city to amend the Local Planning Scheme and Local Planning Strategy in accordance with a schedule of modifications and provide evidence that the scheme was considered by the Environmental Protection Authority, which it has done,” the spokeswoman said.

“Once the WAPC is confident that all requested modifications have been made it will advise the city that it can advertise the scheme and strategy for public comment.”

The council has since been granted approval to advertise the new scheme and will officially launch it tomorrow night.