FAQs

Yes – Council received multiple briefings on the LPS2 before resolving to advertise it for public consultation on 26 August 2020.  This included five dedicated briefings, before and after the Council's decision to advertise in 2020, and ten briefings specifically on the Gnarabup development sites, as well as regular progress updates.

This is a legislated process which requires the document to be reviewed by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) before being made available to the public for consultation purposes.

In adhering to the proper, legislated process of Scheme development, it is normal, acceptable and expected that the document will change after it is reviewed by State departments.

The EPA provided its approval in September 2021 and the WAPC consented in August 2022, subject to extensive mandatory changes which the Shire was obligated to make before receiving final approval to advertise in September 2023.

Yes – the EPA assessed LPS2 over a period of 12 months and gave the Shire approval to advertise the Scheme in 2021.

The WAPC directed the Shire to make 54 changes to the draft LPS2 document before it would give consent to advertise. These changes were mandatory.

No. The changes that the WAPC has required the Shire to make do not require the Scheme to be referred back to the EPA. This has been confirmed by the EPA.

This site, which is entirely privately owned, exists in two parcels. The larger site is to be zoned ‘Tourism’ consistent with its existing zoning.  The smaller parcel is currently zoned ‘Parks and Recreation’ but is shown on the draft Scheme maps as Tourism, which is an error.  An annotation has been added the Scheme Maps to clarify this.

The WAPC have advised that the request to rezone the smaller portion to ‘Tourism’ was made in error on their part. The Shire have applied a notation to this portion of the site on the Draft Scheme maps to make this clear to the community.

Yes.

These sites are currently zoned on LPS1 as Future Development. The Future Development zone is no longer a standard zone supported by the WAPC. It is equivalent is the ‘Urban Development Zone’ and this has been applied instead.

This process is underway and commenced when Council initiated this process on 10 February 2021.

The process involves an extensive Public Environmental Review, as requested by the EPA, which is already being undertaken as part of the Gnarabup Resort development application.

Council initiated the rezoning of Lots 501-504 on 10 February 2021, after the legislative process for LPS2 began, which is why it is not reflected in the LPS2 document.

The owners of Lot 783 and Lots 501-504 lodged a development application with the State Government.  The Shire was asked to comment on the proposal and after a period of public consultation advised the State that its recommendation was that the proposal should be refused. The proposal has not yet been determined by the WAPC, and a decision cannot be made until the EPA have finalised a Pubic Environmental Review.

The Shire’s goal for the LPS2 is to deliver the best long-term outcome for our community, its residents, and the environment.  We are seeking input from the entire community to ensure we have a planning scheme that guides future development. The process is well in excess of the statutory consultation process required.

Shire planners will use the ideas and concerns raised to further refine a suite of rules to most effectively manage development in the Shire into the future.

The Shire has already made hundreds of direct connections with community groups and residents and have had several additional meetings with key stakeholders and environmental groups to capture their input.

Consultation process is being undertaken over 23-week period, which exceeds the statutory requirement of 60 days.  It was originally scheduled to finish on 31 January but submission will now be accepted until 29 February 2023

The Shire has observed that there has been misinformation shared amongst the community about the Draft Scheme. In order to allow additional time for staff to provide factual information, an extension until the 28 February has been agreed.

Council will consider the Scheme, together with all the submissions received in mid-2024. 

It will then need to be reviewed by WAPC and require final approval from the Minister for Planning.

Each submission provided to the Shire will be assessed by staff and a recommendation provided to Council as to how best to respond. For example, a submission may call for a change to either wording or zoning contained in the Draft Scheme. In making a decision on the Draft Scheme, Council will decide to either accept or reject the recommendations put forward by staff as to how the submission should be addressed. When the Scheme is provided to the WAPC, the Department of Planning and Infrastructure will likewise make their own recommendations. Finally, the recommendations will be presented together with the Scheme to the Minister for Planning who will make the final decision. Submitters will be able to follow their submission along this path to understand whether or not it has been accepted.