SWAN councillors have voted to not support metropolitan region scheme amendment 1421, which if approved by the Western Australian Planning Commission would allow urban development close to Whiteman Park station and remove a Bush Forever classification.

Concern Bush Forever link to Whiteman Park cut off (Echo News, August 2) reported the rezoning proposal including some Bush Forever and land once owned by the Whiteman and Day families to urban would remove the Bush Forever 200 designation over about 1.22ha.

The officer’s report presented to the September 11 council meeting made separate recommendations in relation to different parts of the amendment.

The report recommended no objection to land being rezoned urban deferred, which was currently reserved public purpose – special uses and primary regional road, to facilitate investigation of the potential alignment of a water trunk main through the area and determination of the final extent of regional road requirements for the Drumpellier Drive and Youle-Dean Road intersection in Brabham.

No objection was recommended to the removal of the Bush Forever classification along the existing Isoodon Street alignment, to reflect the current use of the land.

However, the report recommended the need for further investigation of the retention and potential planting of vegetation within part of the parks and recreation reserve to establish an appropriate balance between preservation and restoration of the environmental values of the land reserved for parks and recreation and future development.

But councillors voted 9-5 following an alternate motion put forward by Altone ward councillor Amanda Dorn to advise the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) that it did not support proposed metropolitan region scheme amendment 1421.
Cr Dorn’s motion also included that the council request the WAPC as the landowner to improve the environmental values of the parks and recreation reserve through significant planting of target specific species of flora found in the area, to enhance the ecological link identified over the site and to benefit the broader area where vast areas of vegetation is lost to accommodate residential development.

At the September 4 agenda forum Friends of Whiteman Park president Harry Gratte spoke against rezoning the land now zoned parks and recreation to urban.

Mr Gratte said as the Brabham 3 local structure plan had been sent back to the developer to be corrected and improved the plan for the land that was the subject of amendment 1421 should also be included.

He said that would allow an opportunity to reinstate ecological linkage 32, the flora and fauna corridor meant to connect wildlife from the Swan River through Bush Forever Site 200 into Whiteman Park.

Graph of regional ecological linkages (dark green) superimposed on Bush Forever sites (light green) in proximity to the amendment 1421 area.

“Ecological linkage 32 has been destroyed by poor planning, yet it still shows up on the City of Swan website and on government websites, so it needs reinstating,’’ he said.

When speaking for the successful motion Cr Dorn said the council would be going against the city’s own local biodiversity strategy, which listed the ecological linkage under debate as a priority for protection, and also questioned who wanted to live right up against Drumpellier Drive.

Pearce ward councillor Aaron Bowman, who was against the motion, asked the city’s planning chief if the identified ecological link went over existing development and the train station.

Planning and development executive director Leon Van der Linde said it was correct the ecological corridor was shown going over Bush Forever sites and to the north of the site it ran through an area already zoned urban and past the train station and then through where the Brabham shopping centre was located.

Cr Bowman said because houses and a train station were already being built the ecological link was redundant but the council could ask the WAPC to shift the ecological link.

Mr Gratte said the ecological linkage 32 site could also be used for a primary school as that would fit with the Whiteman Park objective of education.

“The Education Department in its submission on the previous LSP said that primary school site there was too small,’’ he said.

“Others identified that there was no drop-off road and there was insufficient buffer to a sewerage pump station.’’

Mr Gratte cautioned that the impact of any development on the hydrology of the site and nearby bushland, in particular Bush Forever sites that contained threatened ecological communities, was of paramount importance.

“Groundwater rises under urban, and this was great at Ellenbrook over the deep sands.

“It was a win, win situation because it meant the Department of Water was able to extract more water from its bores.
“But in Dayton, Brabham and Henley Brook, where the soils are sand over clay, the hydrology has been a complete fail.

“There are places where the groundwater is as high as 300mm below the slab.”