State tightens grip on planning as WAPC shrinks

One recent change to WA’s planning system is making permanent the temporary COVID-era system of developers applying for approval directly to the department of planning.

At the same time the membership of the WA Planning Commission (WAPC) has been changed.

By going the direct route, developers avoid direct involvement with local government planners, the community and councils. Instead they deal behind closed doors with the department and a report then goes directly to the WAPC for decision.

In the past the WAPC had up to 14 members (commissioners). They included five or six directors-general of the major relevant state government agencies, plus senior industry and community representatives and the government architect.

The WAPC had real power to consider state-wide planning strategies and issues, but was illqualified as a project approval decision-maker.

The new and “improved” WAPC has dropped the directorsgeneral. It has also dropped industry and community members and the government architect.

In fact, it will only have commissioners with a tertiary qualification in the arcane art of “planning”.

Apparently, architects need not apply because they lack the qualifications!

So we are going from a WAPC designed and resourced to think Big Picture to a WAPC which is pretty much just another development assessment panel, with all the DAP problems but without the oversight of council and community.

There must be a third party right of appeal by councils and the community for the WAPC route. And there still needs to be a Royal Commission to unpick the apartment-towers approvals mess of the past few years.