$60m fuel storage plan approved

West Australian chemicals manufacturer Coogee will add a $60 million fuel storage development at its Kwinana Beach site after being given the green light this morning.

The Metro Outer Joint Development Assessment Panel members unanimously approved four 30-megalitre fuel storage tanks to be built at Coogee Chemicals site during its meeting today.

The 120 megalitre hydrocarbon storage and handling tank terminal would be build on the corner of Rockingham Beach and Patterson roads, next to Coogee Chemicals' existing tank terminal facility.

"It’s great to see Coogee Chemicals is expanding its operation, they are a respected (business) in the Kwinana industrial area," City of Kwinana mayor Carol Adams said.

The city's responsible authority report said the proposed additional storage would allowed greater economic growth in the region.

“The applicant has advised that the purpose of the proposed development is to improve the fuel storage capacity of the site," the report said.

“The applicant has also advised that the additional 120 megalitres of fuel storage will not create any changes to staff numbers, customer numbers, or hours of operation.”

Coogee Chemicals requested to be exempt from paying a levy under one of the planning conditions that a developer need to contribute financially in lieu of incorporating public art before lodging its building application.

However, the applicant now has a flexible timeframe to decide on the public art inclusion as the city planning and governance manager Paul Neilson said the city was still working on its public art masterplan.

"I understand there was some conversation about some visuals on the tanks, so there are some potential," he said.

"By changing words to (to the condition), it would provide a bit more time potentially for Coogee Chemicals to progress their development and benefit from a revised local planning policy."