Amendment to Local Planning Policy 1.7 – Development Exempt from Approval

The WA Government announced a number of exemptions from planning approval as part of the COVID-19 response. The City is proposing to extend these exemptions in our local planning policy to further support economic recovery and provide flexibility for property owners.

Earlier this year the WA Government established a number of planning exemptions that apply during the temporary COVID-19 State of Emergency as a recovery response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of the City's own economic recovery and in accordance with priority initiatives identified in the COVID-19 Community Recovery Plan, Council resolved in August 2020 to amend Local Planning Policy 1.7 (LPP 1.7) to include further planning exemptions. These changes seek to complement other town planning initiatives and reforms being undertaken by the WA Government.

What are the proposed changes?

There are two types of changes:

1. Permanent changes for additional exemptions under the LPP 1.7
2. Temporary State of Emergency provisions, plus additional exemptions specific to the City of Fremantle.

Proposed permanent exemptions under Local Planning Policy 1.7

The City’s LPP 1.7 outlines situations where planning approval is not required from the City. We have amended the policy to add some new exemptions on a permanent basis.

The proposed new exemptions are:

• Changes of use to an existing building in the City Centre zone to:
  • child care premises;
  • health studio; or
  • medical centre
    
    
• Changes of use to an existing building in the Local Centre zone to:
  • consulting rooms;
  • office; or
  • shops with a net lettable area not greater than 400sqm
    
    
• Specific types of minor internal works (such as internal fit outs and wall and floor coverings) to non-residential places on the City's Heritage List, provided the place is not State-heritage listed or subject to a heritage order. Under the policy, these exemptions already apply to residential places, and the proposed exemption extends this to non-residential places. You can view the specific types of minor works exempted under Clause 11 of the draft policy.

Extension of WA Government State of Emergency Provisions

By default, the State of Emergency provisions only apply to properties with no heritage protection. We are proposing that a number of these exemptions (1.2, 1.3, 6.1, and 6.2) should also apply to properties in ‘heritage areas’ to provide additional flexibility to property owners during this time and assist economic recovery.

‘Heritage areas’ refers to specifically defined areas (such as Hilton Heritage Area) and should not be confused with properties that are State-heritage listed or subject to a heritage order, which will not be included in the proposed exemption. This exemption is temporary and remains in place while the State of Emergency applies.

These specific exemptions relate to:

• Changes of use and development urgently required to respond to the health crisis;
• Minor works and changes to off-premises food consumption for hotel, tavern, restaurant/café or similar buildings; and
• Changes to signage that do not alter the size or shape of the sign.

To see the full copy of the WA Government’s State of Emergency exemptions, click here or visit the document library. You can find further information on the State of Emergency measures on the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage website.

Share your feedback

To read the draft amended local planning policy including changes, click here or visit the document library on this page.

Further background information is also available:

• City of Fremantle Planning Committee Minutes 23 September 2020 - available in the document library, or click here to view.
• The City of Fremantle's COVID-19 Community Recovery Plan - available in the document library, or click here to view.
• WA State Government list of town planning exemptions declared under the COVID-19 State of Emergency - available in the document library, or click here to view.
• More information on the WA State of Emergency can also be found on the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage website.

You can read the amended local planning policy and provide feedback in the submission form below by Sunday 25 October 2020.