North Coogee urban plan

THE state government has advanced plans to make the heritage-listed South Fremantle power station the focal point of a major redevelopment of former industrial land at North Coogee.

Last week, Planning Minister John Day announced the rezoning of 91 hectares of unused North Coogee land for residential development, paving the way for the area to ultimately deliver up to 4,800 new dwellings over the next 15 to 20 years.

Mr Day said the South Fremantle power station would become a centrepiece of the plan, which will focus on medium- to high-density urban living.

“Preliminary investigations for the building and its surrounds show that a mix of community, retail, hospitality, entertainment, short-stay accommodation, commercial and some private residential development could be accommodated in the building,” Mr Day said.

“The Western Australian Planning Commission considers that public access should be encouraged on the ground floor of the building as a minimum.”

The heritage-listed station has degenerated into a state of disrepair since it was de-commissioned in 1985.

Mr Day said LandCorp and Verve Energy would now begin master planning for the power station site, with work to begin this month, and take about six months to complete.

The minister said it was not yet known how much it would cost to redevelop the station.

The station’s redevelopment is expected to underpin the state government’s Cockburn Coast district structure plan, which was approved by the WAPC in September 2009.

The entire project comprises up to 200ha from South Beach to Woodman Point, with LandCorp as the majority shareholder holding about 45ha of developable land.

The plan has a 20 per cent affordable housing target, with 15 per cent of homes required to be ‘family homes’.

Mr Day said further investigation was under way to understand how that target could be achieved through planning and non-planning mechanisms and initiatives.

The structure plan also includes a condition that a centrally located ‘landmark’ building could be developed up to 16 storeys, subject to performance criteria.

A ‘gateway’ building up to eight levels is also recommended by the plan for the corner of Cockburn Coast Drive and Rollinson Road.

Mr Day said the next step would be to finalise local structure plans for the seven separate precincts identified in the plan.

“LandCorp is collaborating with landowners to progress this detailed work,” he said.

Mr Day said that once local structure planning and local planning scheme amendments were finalised, development would commence within two to three years.

“As the site is a significant size and is subject to fragmented land ownership, full build-out could be in the vicinity of 15-20 years from construction commencement,” he said.

A key plank of the plan is also to introduce a public transport link to Fremantle, which would complement residential and mixed-use developments under way north of the power station site at South Beach and south at Port Coogee.

The structure plan identified a rapid bus system along Hampton and Cockburn Roads as its preferred transport option.