MAJOR development plans for Gracetown have been scuttled following a visit from the Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan.
Stage one of a planning study, obtained by a group of Gracetown residents through the Freedom of Information Act, revealed plans to more than double the size of residential and tourist units in the township.
Save Gracetown Campaign vice-president and spokesperson Wayne Baddock said the minister didn’t make a categorical statement that things wouldn’t go ahead.
“But she said the current government won’t be looking at anything like the scale of the original report,” he said.
Mr Baddock said the campaign took nine months to obtain the details of the planning study through the Freedom of Information Act.
“There were three areas that were looked at, one included the town hall and oval,” he said.
“When you added the three nodes up, it was 200 additional residential lots and 243 additional tourist units.”
The Save Gracetown Campaign is celebrating a significant victory after more than 18 months of lobbying the Government.
“To get the minister down here was a bit of a win and she also did show concern for environmental issues,” Mr Baddock said.
It’s understood the minister also indicated that a representative from the Gracetown community would be involved in future planning proposals.
The minister is no doubt keen to avoid any further conflict like the ongoing fight over Mark Hohnen’s development in Gnarabup.
A spokesperson for Ms MacTiernan said the Labor Government would not proceed with development on the scale proposed in the Stage One Investigation report.
“Some low-impact tourism development, a sewerage system and some constraints on the development of existing properties were both necessary and likely,” the spokesperson said.
Ms MacTiernan told the meeting she would consider the issues the community had raised and hoped to advise them of her decision within the next few months.
