THE Western Australian Planning Commission has issued a warning to buyers of rural land in the Peel region with regard to rezoning. Expressing alarm at the rapid increase in speculation over land in the area, WAPC chairman Jeremy Dawkins said there were no current plans to rezone extensive tracts of land in the Peel region to urban classification. Mr Dawkins said there appeared to be highly unrealistic expectations of urbanisation in parts of the region, particularly in the farming areas east of the Peel Harvey estuary. “Land owners, developers, investors and speculators need to understand that there are no plans to convert extensive areas of rural land to urban zoned land, and no current plans to approve major new subdivisions in the area,” he said. “Members of the public are being warned that investment schemes based solely on the prospects of rural land being rezoned and subdivided are purely speculative.” In Mandurah, the heart of the Peel region, prices have shot up well above the market average during the past two years, with rapid population growth expected to continue fuelling a desire for land in the area.