FAQs

The City is proposing an amendment to the City's Local Planning Scheme No. 4 (LPS4) that would simply extend the Freo Alternative - special provisions for small infill development - for a further seven years.

This will amount to changing one word in the Local Planning Scheme: the word 'fifth' in sub-clause 5.7.7 being replaced with 'twelfth' as follows:

“Clause 5.7 and associated sub-clauses shall cease to have effect on the date of the fifth twelfth anniversary after publication in the Gazette of the amendment introducing those provisions into the scheme.”

There would be no other changes to the Scheme’s map or text and all other Freo Alternative provisions would remain the same. 

The aim of the amendment is to provide an extended evaluation period for the Freo Alternative, allowing for a comprehensive review of the provisions.

The Freo Alternative was a community engagement process that ran in late 2016, exploring the idea of smaller housing in Fremantle with the community. 

The purpose of the project was to find a community-led alternative to traditional infill development in residential suburbs that addressed the need for diversity in housing to cater for the trend in smaller household size, while avoiding the pitfalls of widespread increases in residential density coding.

From the community engagement process, eight themes were derived and planning rules (the special provisions for small infill development) were made based on these eight themes. 

Once approved by the Minister for Planning, the planning rules applied to specific lower density (R30 and below) areas in existing suburbs (Special Control Area 5.7 – refer to Figure 1 below) as an alternative to blanket density up-coding that leads to larger houses being built, which erodes open space and urban forest canopy.

                Figure 1. Special Control Area 5.7

The specific planning requirements applicable to the Special Control Areas include:

• Maximum dwelling floor area of 120m²
• Maximum number of dwellings – three dwellings, including any existing dwelling(s), on lots 750m² or less. On lots over 750m² one additional dwelling would be allowed for every 150m² in excess of 750m²
• 70% open space requirement
• a requirement for 25% of the site to be a deep planting zone
• The requirement for planting or retention of a tree
• Specific car parking requirements
• Consideration by the City’s Design Advisory Committee.

These requirements are not capable of variation under the City’s Scheme and can only be applied to the development of grouped and / or multiple dwellings and do not apply to subdivision applications. 

While The Freo Alternative provisions were supported by the community, they are at variance to State Planning Policy 7.3 - Residential Design Codes, which ordinarily control residential development. Therefore, the State Government approved The Freo Alternative as a pilot project with a five-year lifespan by implementing a sunset clause. 

Over the past five years, there has been limited uptake of The Freo Alternative. Several factors have contributed to this subdued response including project costs, a scarcity of suitable lots, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on construction and economic conditions. In contrast, new developments have continued to offer large houses that do not suit small household sizes, while the state's Medium Density Code, which has been delayed in implementation, won't cover the areas that were anticipated.

The City still believes the Freo Alternative provisions are valuable and more time is needed to trial the development type. Proposed Scheme Amendment No. 87 would extend the five-year sunset clause by a further seven years to allow for more time to test the provisions and to undertake a thorough review of their effectiveness.

Compared to the Perth metropolitan area, the City of Fremantle has a higher number of single-person households and half the number of large family households. Despite this, most suburban housing built in the city over the past 20 years has four or more bedrooms.

Providing diverse housing in established suburbs allows individuals or small households who don’t need large homes, or want to downsize, to access housing alongside families and larger households within the same community.

If housing stock continues to develop the way it has over the past 20 years in Fremantle, there will be even fewer options for smaller households to remain in the area.

Graphic from Freo Alternative engagement in 2017 -

The City is aware that population growth, changes in household demographics and declining housing affordability have left many people unable to find housing that suits their needs and / or budgets in Fremantle.

A key theme identified through the Fremantle 2029 Community Visioning Project was: “We want Fremantle to be a welcoming place for all people; and a liveable city that serves its people’s needs”.

During this project the community said they wanted the City of Fremantle to address affordability and support aging in place by:

• taking a proactive approach to implement affordable and accessible housing

• engaging the whole community in planning for future types of housing services

• actioning holistic and specific strategies to improve choice and affordability

• changing the town planning scheme to encourage one and two bedroom housing options. 

The Freo Alternative was developed as a direct response to these suggestions.

Through The Freo Alternative we explored alternative and small housing options that fulfil the gaps in the granny flat and town planning rules without compromising the things we love about our established areas.

City of Fremantle and state planning allow ‘granny’ flats to be located on the same property as a main house. The Freo Alternative project challenged us to think bigger and asked the question - could we change our planning policy to allow granny flats to be subdivided and owned by a separate party to allow for smaller home ownership?

Once built, a Freo Alternative home can be subdivided from the parent lot, allowing the purchase of a smaller home in the City's suburban areas.

There is no prescribed style for Freo Alternative housing. Small housing can be attached, detached, or even apartments.

The three Freo Alternative projects that have been built so far are all small, two-storey homes with significant gardens. The benefits include:

• smaller building footprint on the site

• increased open space 

• dedicated deep planting zones to ensure mature trees are retained or can be accommodated in the future

• existing streetscapes are retained

• innovative design is achieved.

'Up-coding’ is one way to increase housing density and is a useful tool for increasing housing supply and achieving infill housing targets. However, increasing the density of housing in suburban areas often results in more of the same housing, reduced open space, and building footprints to the maximum allowance. Overall, this doesn’t achieve housing diversity or smaller housing types.

The Freo Alternative is intended to provide smaller housing in established suburbs while retaining the features we value in these areas.

Having alternative forms of housing in established suburbs would mean individuals or small households (who don’t need large homes, or want to downsize), can live alongside their families and friends in larger households within the same community. It will diversify our housing stock, our community, and enrich the vibrancy that characterises Fremantle.

Following the community engagement period, Council will review the submissions received on the planning document and may support the amendment with or without modification. The documents will then be sent to the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage, who will review the proposal, along with any submissions received, and make a recommendation to the WA Planning Commission / Minister for Planning for their final decision.

More about the Scheme amendment process here.

To meet statutory planning timeframes a scheme amendment must be advertised as soon as reasonably practicable following Council's resolution to prepare the amendment. The City understands that many residents are busy or away over the festive period; however, instead of delaying the community engagement until 2024, the City has opened engagement for an extended period from early December until late February. Information on the project is available here on the City’s MySay Fremantle webpage and planning officers are available to answer questions by e-mail or telephone. A community engagement event is planned for February, with details to follow via MySay and a further letter to residents in and around Special Control Area 5.7.

Submissions will be reported back to Council, which will then make a decision on whether to support the amendment, with or without modification. The submissions will then be sent, along with other relevant documentation, to Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage who will review the matter and make a recommendation to the WA Planning Commission / Minister for Planning for final decision.

Any comments in submissions received on the proposed amendment may also be considered in a more in-depth review of The Freo Alternative, which the City intends to undertake in the next 12-24 months, if The Freo Alternative is extended.