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Let’s Change the Way We See our Streets

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Amendment No. 73

Having now been to an info session with the Town of Victoria Park, and listened as various interest groups voiced their opinions, (not all of them polite and reasoned, I might add) it is appropriate to add another layer to the informational cake.

The power lost, and been sought back with this proposed amendment by the Town of Victoria Park, is the ability to enforce the Planning Policy – Streetscape. 

This policy has on the whole, served the Town well since its inception. Character dwellings have been retained when they might otherwise have been bulldozed and their dollar value has been increasing because of the community and marketplace endorsement of this retention.

The policy conceived the best part of 20 years ago, despite its success, is also flawed.  

This planning policy document cuts deep for many property owners who believe that they are stuck with substandard housing in a day and age where better is available.  It slavishly attempts to recreate the old, with new faux federation homes – a design guideline that jars with the very intent of a new building.  The policy seems at odds with itself when we look at the way similar buildings are treated along Albany Highway in the mixed residential commercial areas. And should you wish to preserve and honour an old home, whilst adding to or extending, the Planning Policy – Streetscape, does not allow for the new part of the home to be of substantially different materials and form, if it can be seen from the street.  This is problematic. As good design practise says we should differentiate the old from the new. When did new houses become verboten?  The old and new can sit comfortably side-by-side, many suburbs in Perth do this very successfully.

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The Planning Policy – Streetscape was born of community consultation in the late 1990′s.  Our demographics have changed. Our community norms have changed.  Our haircuts have changed. The policy is outdated.

The proposed Amendment 73 represents a great opportunity to lever wholesale revision of the Streetscape Policy – before we put the power back into the bureaucrats hands.

Please check out the attached petition here, please sign and help bring this to your elected representatives attention.

To read my previous blog post and opinion on Amendment No. 73, click here.

Derek Baston

PropertyPulse

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