WAPC, Stirling City in redevelopment partnership

The Western Australian Planning Commission and City of Stirling will work together to develop the Stirling regional centre as a major focus for commercial, retail, cultural and employment activity.

Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan said City of Stirling Mayor Terry Tyzack and WAPC chair Jeremy Dawkins today signed a memorandum of understanding to guide the partnership in reviewing planning for the centre.

The Stirling regional centre includes the Innaloo shopping centre, the Stirling Civic Centre precinct, the Osborne Park Hospital, the Greater Union theatre complex and part of the Osborne Park industrial area.

"Stirling was identified as a major activity centre in the Network City process, but its development is still guided by a structure plan adopted in 1995," Ms MacTiernan said.

"A review of the structure plan, a decade after its adoption, will look at developing a range of land uses integrated with public transport - and a strong identity - at the heart of the city.

"It is critical to achieving this goal to have a current, comprehensive and robust document to guide and facilitate future growth.

"Community consultation will be a very important component of this review."

A number of key issues that affect the development of the Stirling regional centre will be addressed during the review:

• ongoing and complex traffic management issues relating to the existing road network and the impacts and timing for the construction of Stephenson Highway;
• the lack of appropriate development around the Stirling train station;
• the isolated location of the station from places that generate and attract passengers;
• the environmental issues posed by the presence of landfill, swamp land and acid sulphate soil risk;
• the lack of real heart or identity for the centre;
• the failure of the centre to consolidate or develop in an integrated fashion;
• poor quality pedestrian, cycle and built environments;
• the failure of the centre to attract high intensity employers (such as significant office development);
• the restrictions on development in the industrial area to the east of the Stephenson Highway reservation and its isolation and disconnection from the rest of the centre;
• the lack of housing choice in the centre and the lack of market interest in providing higher density residential development;
• the isolation of the civic precinct and the relative lack of community identity; and
• the structure plan review will also become a part of a Scarborough Beach Road activity corridor demonstration project to commence early next year.

The demonstration project will address road and land use details along the length of Scarborough Beach Road and focus on specific areas including the Scarborough Beach precinct redevelopment and the bus station upgrade, the Glendalough station precinct and the local centre in Mt Hawthorn.

The Minister said the partnership between the WAPC and City of Stirling was very appropriate, given the centre's regional status and the complex and varied issues involved.

"These partnerships work best when all participants have access to the same information and share a common understanding and expectation of the project," she said.