Perth Voice Interactive

THERE are fears Coode Street and King William streets’ low-rise character homes are under threat, with Bayswater council looking to cram another 2700 dwellings into a 200-metre corridor from Guildford Road to the Morley activity centre.

The mostly single-storey street is currently zoned between R30 and R40, but under a proposed Local Planning Strategy due to come before council this week, it could be as high as R100 butted up against the road, then tapering off to R50 – R80.

A planning report to the council said the aim of the corridor was to increase the area’s population density, encourage more public transport use and “reduce reliance on private vehicle use”. 

“The intent is also to provide for a greater local population to support the viability of commercial uses in the centres near the corridor,” the report said.

“To achieve the level of activity and vibrancy anticipated, the built form is envisioned to be of a larger scale close to King William Street and Coode Street, which will then transition down in scale where interfacing with established low-density residential areas outside of the corridor.”

The report said creating the corridor, which was linked to the Morley and Bayswater centres, would entice market interest and investment, and a number of submissions backed that, encouraging the council to adopt the plan. 

Heritage

Five wanted the Bayswater town centre’s heritage area to be revoked.

“Protecting this area will restrict ability to provide more modern and sustainable development,” one submitter wrote.

“This area was not legally approved and it is requested it is rescinded/removed.”

But council staff said while the town centre didn’t have formal protection under the planning laws, keeping it as a heritage area was “highly desirable”.

Others were concerned about the impact of so much development along Coode Street.

“This corridor contains many streets with highly valued traditional residential character,” one resident wrote.

“The urban corridor should be reconsidered and, at most, should propose a density code of R80-R100 to lots fronting King William Street / Coode Street only.”

The council’s planning officers said originally they’d left parts of Coode Street out of the corridor, but the state’s planning department ordered them to be added in to align with its own broader planning framework.

Similar zoned-up corridors are also proposed along Beechboro Road, Crimea Street, Guildford Road, and Walter Road West and Beaufort Street until they hit the border with Stirling council.

The Embleton Golf Course might also have its links shrunk, with the council looking into whether a sizeable chunk of its southern flanks could be developed for housing somewhere in the future.

by STEVE GRANT