Council resolution on the Freo Alternative

Our Freo alternative – Big thinking about small housing community engagement process and outcomes report was presented to council on Wednesday 25 January.

Council resolved to receive the outcomes report and recommended that the draft development provisions considered by Council in September 2015 and March 2016 be reviewed in the context of the eight key themes identified by the Freo Alternative. As an outcome of the engagement process, the review of draft development provisions will address the following matters:

• Design provisions to promote communal interaction between neighbours.
• Quantity and form of private open space for each new dwelling.
• Design provisions to safeguard existing trees and/or require new tree planting on development sites, proportionate to achieving viable development of smaller housing typologies.
• Whether draft planning standards providing reduced parking requirements for new smaller housing types, as previously discussed by Council, are the most appropriate approach to deal with parking demand and travel behaviour.
• Whether current planning requirements for on-site vehicle manoeuvring space could be relaxed for new types of smaller residential development.
• The level of access to public transport and local amenities required in order for an area to be considered a suitable, or preferred, location for the development of additional smaller housing typologies.
• Draft planning standards for open space, outdoor living area and landscaping requirements.
• The extent and form of provisions to ensure good quality design outcomes (including design that is responsive to local character and context).
• The extent and form of provisions to encourage or mandate higher than ‘business as usual’ sustainability standards in building design and construction.

You can read the council report and resolution in full here or watch a video summary From the council chambers.

A local planning scheme amendment will now be drafted to reflect the council resolution. There will be further opportunites for community and stakeholder input into the development of the draft scheme which will be available for comment on My Say Freo mid-2017.