Frequently asked questions

A local planning scheme amendment is a change to part of a local planning scheme, in this case, the City's Local Planning Scheme No. 7 (LPS 7). 

When a change is made to the scheme it is known as a scheme amendment, which can be proposed by landowners, the City, or the State Government of Western Australia.

The proposed rezoning and change in density code is intended to facilitate the site being redeveloped for low-density development which is compatible with the Residential zoning.

A residential zone is an area of land that has been zoned as residential under LPS 7.

The objectives of a Residential Zone are defined within LPS 7 as follows:

• To provide for a range of housing and a choice of residential densities to meet the needs of the community.
• To facilitate and encourage high quality design, built form and streetscapes throughout residential areas.
• To provide for a range of non-residential uses, which are compatible with and complementary to residential development.

A density code (also known as an R-Code) determines the density, form and scale of development that can occur on a property. Almost every property/lot/block of land in the City has an R-Code in LPS 7.

The density code is being reduced from R40 to R17.5 as part of the change in zoning to ensure that the development of the site is compatible with the surrounding low-density residential properties.

For single or grouped dwellings in an R17.5 code, the minimum site area is 500m² and the average site area is 571m² per dwelling. As an example, two dwellings could be built on a lot of 1142m². The R17.5 coding is considered low-density and broadly reflects the built form within the surrounding area of the site.