A coastal village featuring a hospitality precinct and a new jetty will be the centrepiece of a $425 million housing estate in Port Kennedy, which will be developed over the next decade.
A coastal village featuring a hospitality precinct and a new jetty will be the centrepiece of a $425 million housing estate in Port Kennedy, which will be developed over the next decade.
Planning Minister Rita Saffioti announced late last month that the state government had ended nearly three decades of negotiations by transferring 66 hectares of beachfront land to a Singapore-based developer.
The land has been transferred to Western Australia Beach and Golf Resort, a Singaporean company that has been planning to develop the precinct since the early 1990s.
First components to be developed include a new clubhouse for The Links Kennedy Bay golf course, designed by Gresley Abas Architects, and a coastal village centre.
An architect's rendering of the new clubhouse. Image: Gresley Abas Architects.
Development manager at Place Development Australia, David Roberts, said a Local Structure Plan had been lodged late last year to facilitate the development, while more recently the project proponents submitted a development application for the clubhouse, part of $15 million in public works associated with the coastal village.
He said the village would incorporate a mix of short-stay accommodation, retail and hospitality, with a public jetty designed to enhance the tourism potential of the area, which is currently underutilised with a difficult-to-access beachfront.
“The big focus for us will be on the village centre as well as connecting up to a jetty,” Mr Roberts said.
“It will provide a lot more amenity for both the new residents of the area as well as existing residents and the broader community.”
He said the sales agreement with the state government set specific timelines for development, with first titled lots expected to be released by the first quarter of 2022, while a portion of the new village centre would be completed at that time.
Specific elements of the Kennedy Bay estate had been formulated through an extensive public consultation process, Mr Roberts said.
“Prior to our appointment [in April] there was a long history of community consultation on this project,” he said.
“When we first came on board we undertook an audit of all of the previous community consultation and wrapped up the key findings of that into a list, which we made sure we went over through our design process.
“We certainly captured a lot of the thoughts behind what the community wants.”
Plans to redevelop Kennedy Bay originated under the Carmen Lawrence Labor government in the early 1990s, with the same proponent putting forward the proposal.
Since then, the estate has been caught up in government red tape, with changes in planning policies, concern over rising sea levels and Perth’s volatile residential property market contributing to the lack of progress.
In total, 900 residential lots will be developed, while The Links golf course will also be redeveloped under the proposal.
Mr Roberts said he expected an orderly development process following the transfer of the land.
“The good thing about this project is that some of the aspects have been in place for a long time,” he said.
“For example, the environmental approvals have been in place for a significant amount of time at a federal and a state level, so there is a relative amount of certainty around that.
“The rest of the process is fairly locked in in terms of the delivery timeframe, which is fairly unique under the sales agreement with the state.”
