Trigger for Bunbury boom

An attractive mix of new developments could be on the cards for Bunbury with the city’s new town planning scheme expected to be approved this week.

During a Bunbury City Council briefing session this week, sustainability, planning and development manager Thor Farnworth told councillors his “deadline” for the Department of Planning and Environment Protection Authority to endorse Town Planning Scheme No. 8 was yesterday.

The new scheme has a focus on high-density residential and mixed-use developments allowing more inner-city living.

Mayor Gary Brennan said he envisaged multi-storey developments for areas around Bunbury, which would have a mix of both retail and residential.

The scheme would act as a “trigger” for companies or individuals interested in development.

“If the market knows this is coming, they can start to prepare because it can take between a year and two years for plans and approvals,” he said.

“It will be a trigger for developers to say ‘let’s now look at what the TPS8 will allow us to do’.”

The council claims the revised scheme will reduce land use conflict and more efficiently conserve and manage the city’s natural areas along with improving the quality of urban design buildings, streetscapes and open spaces.

It also says the scheme responds to Bunbury’s changing housing and population needs.

Approval was imminent yesterday and Mr Brennan said once the council got the tick of approval it would ramp up promoting the scheme.

”We’ll run quite a significant public campaign around raising awareness of TPS8,” he said.

Once approved the scheme is required to go out for public advertising for 90 days.