The City has developed a draft Local Planning Strategy – a long-term urban planning vision for the municipality – that looks at issues such as housing opportunities and densities, business/commercial growth, transport, community connectedness and environmental, cultural and heritage preservation and enhancement.

It has been developed using the information gathered from the comprehensive and awardwinning Melville Visions community consultation project where residents were given a number of opportunities to voice their opinions and aspirations to contribute to and influence the future directions of the City of Melville.

Residents will be able to have another say when the draft strategy is released for public comment. Once adopted, the strategy will lead to a review of the Town Planning Scheme where the measures will be put in place to achieve the aims of the strategy.

Mayor Russell Aubrey said when a local council reviewed its Town Planning Scheme, legislation required that the council must have a Local Planning Strategy. “The strategy is an analysis of everything going on in the city and sets a direction for the future while the scheme is the instrument to achieve the aims of the strategy,” he said.

Mayor Aubrey said there were a range of issues that would affect the way in which the City of Melville developed in an urban planning context, including increasing housing densities and expansion of commercial centres. “The strategy seeks to show how we can address these matters through the reviewed planning scheme,” he said.

Urban Planning Director Craig McClure said the strategy looked at social, economic and environmental factors and involved an assessment of all the City’s current strategies and action plans. “It also looks at what is going on in the surrounding region and complements the State Government’s Network City framework and other State Government policies,” he said.