FAQs

The Council has adopted an amendment to its Local Planning Scheme (Amendment 106) and Local Planning Policy 30 – Kalamunda Activity Centre Plan Built Form Design Guidelines (LPP 30) for the purposes of public comment. The purpose of Amendment 106 is to align the City of Kalamunda’s local planning scheme with the recommendations of the Kalamunda Activity Centre Plan.

Amendment 106 and LPP 30 are proposed to apply to the area identified within the Kalamunda Activity Centre Plan (KACP). The area includes the central core of the Kalamunda Town Centre and its peripheral mixed use, residential and public purpose areas. The KACP is generally bounded by Elizabeth Street and Stirk Park to the north, Dixon Road and the Railway Heritage Trail to the east, the Kalamunda Water Park and Canning Road to the south, and half of a block in the residential areas and Kalamunda Road to the west.

A local planning Scheme Amendment is a change to the current requirements or provisions such as the zoning and/or the permissibility of uses within the City’s Local Planning Scheme No.3 (LPS3). When a change is made to the Scheme, it is known as a Scheme Amendment. A Scheme Amendment can be proposed by landowners, the City of Kalamunda, or the Western Australian State Government.

Local planning policies do not form part of a local planning scheme, but are given recognition through the scheme as one of the matters to be given 'due regard' in the consideration of applications for planning approval. As such, the local planning policy cannot impose any mandatory requirements upon proposed development, but may guide the formulation of applications (by developers) and their subsequent assessment (by City officers) and determination (by or on behalf of the Council).

LPP 30 will provide the Built Form Design Guidelines for proposed development in the KACP area. They include a set of principles and design criteria by which proposed developments will be assessed and judged on their merits having regard to the character of the surrounding landscape and buildings.

Amendment 106 seeks to introduce a new Centre zone, objectives and associated provisions for the land identified by the KACP. This will align the City’s Local Planning Scheme No. 3 with the KACP and will replace provisions relating to the Kalamunda town centre to enable the implementation of the KACP, while tidying up Additional, Special, and Restricted Use schedules.

The objectives of the new Centre zone are to designate land for future development as a town centre or activity centre and to provide a basis for future detailed planning and building design.

Amendment 106 will result in greater permissibility and flexibility of land use for landowners.

An activity centre plan guides the types of land uses and the overall development, including built form, that is intended to occur within the activity centre. An activity centre is a commercial focal point that can include commercial, retail, higher density housing, entertainment, civic, and higher education uses. 

The Kalamunda Activity Centre Plan sets out the planning and development parameters that are specific to the area such as general zoning and development requirements.

There are three types of Local Planning Scheme Amendments: Basic, Standard and Complex.

A Complex Local Planning Scheme Amendment is a scheme amendment that is significant in scale and/or inconsistent with the planning framework. 

Amendment 106 is classified as a ‘Complex’ local planning scheme amendment.

The classification of the amendment as ‘Complex’ was determined having regard to the significant public interest surrounding the KACP.

A Complex local planning scheme amendment requires a minimum advertising period of 60 days. 

In accordance with the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015 and the City of Kalamunda Local Planning Policy 11 – Public Notification of Planning Proposals, the advertising period is 60 days, however, as the advertising period falls during the December holiday period, the advertising period has been extended to 74 days ending on Tuesday 25 January 2022.

Amendment 106 will enable the Activity Centre Plan to come to fruition with greater land use permissibility and flexibility within the Kalamunda Town Centre, and will ensure that development and land use requirements better reflect the vision and future development opportunities within the Kalamunda Town Centre.

LPP30 will provide detailed guidance and design principles as to what form proposed development could take and to how future development proposals will be assessed. 

Amendment 106 and the guidelines in LPP30, along with the KACP, will provide the greatest opportunity to deliver a robust planning framework that can facilitate the coordination and activation of the Kalamunda Town Centre.