Stay Informed - Shire Planning Services

Developer contributions are a levy upon development which assists the Shire in providing the infrastructure necessary to cater for the growth of our community.

On the 28^th February 2018, Council adopted minor changes to the Developer Contributions Plans and Cost Apportionment Schedules which set out the purpose for which contributions are taken and the extent of the contributions.

The revised Developer Contributions Plans and Cost Apportionment Schedules can be found here

It is important to note that the changes agreed by Council do not change the contribution amounts.

At the Council meeting of the 22 November 2017 Council adopted the Environmental Elements of Sustainability Strategy. The document can be found here

The Strategy will elevate the status of the environment as a factor influencing Council’s operations, its programs and its services, at both a corporate and community level. The Strategy provides the strategic framework to achieve this vision, by guiding decisions and helping to shape plans and activities undertaken across the Shire.

On the 25 October 2017 the Western Australian Planning Commission gave final approval to revised East Margaret River District Structure Plan which can be found here

The purpose of the plan is to provide for the co-ordination of more detailed structure planning, subdivision and development across several landholdings which were identified for future development by the Local Planning Strategy in 2010. Upon full development, the Structure Plan area will accommodate an additional 5000 people.

The preparation of the Plan has been predicated upon a new model for urban growth as articulated by the Hamlet Design Guidelines.

The overarching intent of this sustainable growth model is to achieve a form of residential development which differs from greenfield development experienced elsewhere in the State.

The Shire looks forward to working with land owners and developers to ensure that the future growth of Margaret River is undertaken in the most sustainable way possible.

Proponents are encouraged to use the R-Codes Assessment Checklist when submitting their next residential planning application. This checklist streamlines the compliance assessment of residential development applications to support a consistent, accurate and faster determination process.

The checklist can be found here

If you are considering submitting a planning application, please be aware that you are able to email your planning application to the Shire via the following email address:

amrshire@amrshire.wa.gov.au

(Please note that when emailing a planning application this will incur a printing charge).

The Shire has developed a ‘Development Application Fee Calculator’ to help you quickly and accurately calculate your planning application fee’s. The calculator will determine the correct fee payable based on the estimated cost of the development and is available here

All planning applications submitted to the Shire for development approval must be lodged with an accompanying fee as per the Fee Schedule available here

Effective immediately, the Shire requests that all applications for the clearance of subdivision conditions are accompanied by new forms which can be found here

The completed forms will assist the Shire in delivering timely clearance letters and the delivery of lots to market as soon as possible.

Proponents submitting Bushfire Management Plans (BMP’s) with their planning proposals are encouraged to use the BMP cover sheet prepared by the WAPC, which can be found here….

The coversheet will allow the Shire to quickly discern as to whether the BMP requires referral to DFES.

In doing so, proposals will be able to be dealt with more quickly.

At the Council meeting of the 28 June 2017 Council adopted the 2017 – 2018 Schedule of Fees and Charges.

In good news for applicants, none of the planning and development services fees were changed, meaning that the minimum fee for a planning application remains at $147.

You can view the Schedule of Fees and Charges here