Technical Advice

The Town's Local Planning Framework is largely established under the State's Planning and Development Act 2005 and associated subsidiary legislation. It includes:

• Local Planning Strategy: this includes the Town Local Planning Strategy which is intended to set out the long term vision and strategy for the planning and development of the Town.
• Local Planning Scheme: this is a legislative document which is intended to implement the Local Planning Strategy by way of setting out land use and development controls as well as processes.
• Local Planning Policies and Position Statements: these are created under the Local Planning Scheme and are intended to supplement it by providing further guidance on an area or subject-specific land use and development matters.
• Other Planning Strategies: these are created to record specific land use and development information which is applicable to various planning matters.

Should you require technical planning advice pertaining to a specific property or development, you can do so by contacting the Town Planning and Development team on 9158 9300 or by email to ePlanning@porthedland.wa.gov.au. The fee for written planning advice is $73.00 per hour (min 1 hour) with an average turn-around time of 10 working days. Please provide the lot number and street address, a clear description of the proposal, site plan and details of the required information. Please refer to the Planning information request form here.

Zoning Information

If you require zoning information, our local planning scheme maps are available here. Alternatively, you can request the zoning of a property by emailing ePlanning@porthedland.wa.gov.au. Requests lodged prior to 2 pm are responded to by close of business that day.

Should you require Town staff to carry out a zoning search and provide information on permissible uses, current planning approvals, details of any scheme amendments that may affect the property and any notices or orders that have been issued, you can apply for a Planning Statement at a cost of $73.00 per hour (min 1 hour) with an average turn-around time of 10 working days. Please note copies of development approval are charged as $110.00 per property.

Land Information

For information on land titles and records, property statistics (sales and growth), maps, deposited plans, survey plans, property valuations and conveyancing information - contact Landgate at www.landgate.wa.gov.au or on 9273 7373.

For enquiries regarding Water and Sewer, please contact Water Corporation on 13 13 95.

Subdivision

The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) is responsible for approving all subdivision applications in our State. For information on the subdivision process, go to https://www.dplh.wa.gov.au/information-and-services/subdivisions,-development-and-property. Subdivision application forms and schedule of fees can be found at https://www.dplh.wa.gov.au/information-and-services/subdivisions,-development-and-property/subdivision-fees-and-forms. 

Planning application forms

Planning Guidelines

Development assessment panel forms and fees

Strata - form 24 and fees

Design Review panel

Design Review Panel

The Town encourages proponents to seek the advice of its Design Review Panel (DRP) prior to a formal lodgement of an application.

Design review should begin well before a development application is submitted. It is strongly recommended the initial design review occurs as early in the design process as possible (i.e. during concept design) to ensure the proponent can apply the advice offered at a stage where the design is flexible enough to incorporate change without impacting on time and costs constraints.

Please see Local Planning Policy 14 – Design Review for further information.

What is the purpose of the Design Review Panel?

The DRP provides independent, expert design and technical advice in respect of development proposals.  The range of expert advice includes urban design, landscape architecture, architecture, civil engineering, hydrology and sustainability. 

The DRP’s comment and advice is to assist in the formulation of recommendations, it does not have decision-making powers.

What types of proposals are referred to the DRP?

The types of proposals referred to the DRP include but are not limited to:

• South Hedland Centre and entry statement;
• Workforce accommodation, hotels or motels;
• New developments in the Port Hedland West End Improvement Scheme No.1 area;
• Grouped and multiple dwelling developments with twelve or more dwellings;
• Mixed use developments;
• Community infrastructure;
• Any development eligible for consideration by the Joint Development Assessment Panel;
• When the Town considers the proposal would benefit from the DRP’s guidance given the site, location, size, use or community impact of the development.

Are there any fees for obtaining the DRP’s advice?

The Town’s Design Review Panel is a free service.

How do I engage the DRP?

The proponents must submit the DRP Application Form with the supporting information before a DRP meeting date is scheduled. The required supporting information is set out in that form.  This must be provided two weeks prior to the meeting to allow suitable time for the Town’s officers to undertake an assessment, a report to be created and the information distributed to the panellists prior to the meeting.

When are meetings held?

DRP meetings are convened on a when required basis.  Meetings are scheduled within two weeks of receipt of a competent DRP Application from the proponent.

DRP meetings are not open to the public, but proponents are encouraged to attend.

What is the format of meetings?

DRP meetings are generally held in the following format:

• Proponent welcome by Presiding Member (2 minutes);
• Presentation / response to prior recommendations (10 minutes);
• Questions and clarification (5 minutes)
• Discussion (10 minutes)
• Summary by Chairperson of DRP (3 minutes)

The proponent’s presentation to the DRP should address the following:

• The aspirations of the proposal, as well as the contextual understanding of the site and how the project sits within and relates to its surrounds;
• How the proposal addresses the relevant development requirements, including rationale for variations to these; and
• How the proposal addresses the ten principles of good design in State Planning Policy 7.0 – Design of the Built Environment.

Who is on the Design Review Panel?

What happens after the DRP meeting?

A copy of the minutes from the DRP meeting will be provided to the proponent within two weeks of the meeting date. The minutes will be captured against the applicable Design principles and an overall rating against a traffic light system will be provided to measure the acceptability of the development.

Proposals may need to be presented to a further DRP meeting if:

• Major modifications were recommended by the DRP
• Insufficient information was provided for DRP’s initial meeting;
• The design quality of the proposal is substantially inconsistent with the proposal considered by the DRP’s initial meeting;
• The Town does not consider the recommendations of the DRP have been sufficiently addressed.

Local Planning Policy 14 – Design Review

DRP Application Form

For further information on the DRP please contact the Town’s Planning and Development team on 9158 9300 or eplanning@porthedland.wa.gov.au