HIGH Wycombe residents are pressuring City of Kalamunda and state planning authorities to resolve the impacts of industrial operations near their homes as the city clarifies the complex timeline of the issue.

High Wycombe resident Michael Ryan and members of the Landowners High Wycombe South Action Group have been in dispute with the city for several years over a 32m separation zone, made up of a 20m road reserve and 12m residential setbacks.

The buffer sits between stage 1 of the Forrestfield–High Wycombe Industrial Development Zone and existing homes, with residents arguing it falls short of separation distances required under local planning scheme 3 and a 2015 State Administrative Tribunal decision.

Residents have repeatedly requested technical calculations demonstrating how the 32m distance was determined.

According to Mr Ryan, those calculations have never been formally produced.

“The city and the government have placed many of us in harm’s way for nine years by not affording the community a buffer,” Mr Ryan wrote to chief executive Anthony Vuleta.

Residents have compiled extensive noise logs documenting disruption from nearby industrial operations, particularly Golden Eggs and Ascent Steel, which conducts steel fabrication, sandblasting and painting.

In a December 21, 2025 log, resident Diane English reported that Golden Eggs machinery malfunctioned at 1.30am on a Saturday morning, operating continuously for more than nine hours.

“I phoned the city’s after-hours number at 6.20am, which is recorded, and was told to report it Monday,” Ms English wrote.

“The recording is there, which proves this has happened.”

Mr Ryan has also questioned whether Ascent Steel’s development approval accurately reflects its activities, noting it is described as a “light industrial workshop” in its application which is a classification he argued did not exist under the local scheme.

“Ascent Steel is definitely not industry-light,” he said.

Concerns have also been raised about industrial traffic, with residents supplying photographs of heavy vehicles reversing into the steel fabrication site along Sultana Road West.

The city declined a resident request for a January 13 meeting, stating issues raised had been “extensively addressed through previous correspondence and formal processes over a number of years”.

However, in a December 22 response, the city acknowledged there was no single, clearly documented buffer calculation available at the time.

The dispute sits within a broader planning transition that includes both state and local planning decisions.

Mayor Margaret Thomas said the area along Sultana Road West was originally planned and zoned for industrial use, before state priorities shifted following the proposed delivery of a Metronet station.

“That prompted the state government to request the area be reconsidered for residential development,” she said.

The city then prepared a local structure plan to guide residential growth, which was approved by the state government and now sets the long-term planning direction for the precinct.

Ms Thomas said the core challenge was managing the interface between historic industrial zoning and newer residential outcomes driven by state-led infrastructure and land-use decisions.

“Resolving the issue requires coordination between multiple parties, including the city, the state government and the WAPC,” she said.

She said local governments did not have the authority or financial capacity to independently resolve legacy interface issues arising from state planning decisions.

Ms Thomas said the city has been actively advocating to the state government and confirmed that the chair of the WAPC has requested collaboration on a new structure plan to address the interface.

“The city and state are now engaging on the development of this new structure plan, with the aim of progressing a more coordinated and long-term planning solution,” she said.

Under the High Wycombe South (Forrestfield North) residential precinct local structure plan amendment 1, approved by the WAPC in August 2023, Sultana Road West was designated as the transition point between industrial and future residential land uses.

While the structure plan includes provisions for design treatments to manage this interface, residents have strongly objected to being required to fund them.

“(Development services director) Nathan Ritchie also told Diane and Peter English and I that landowners on the interface would have to fund a (taller than) 9m high wall extending about 400m, along with roads and landscaping, in addition to the development contribution plan,” Mr Ryan wrote.

“We vehemently objected.”

Residents are seeking access to technical information they say was relied upon to allow ongoing industrial operations with the current 32-metre buffer.

Ms Thomas said the city understands residents’ frustration and acknowledged the issue has persisted for many years.

“However, the current situation is the result of planning transitions over time, rather than a single decision by the city,” she said.

She said further updates would be provided as structure planning and state engagement progresses.