Local Planning Scheme and Local Planning Strategy
The Shire of Broome’s Local Planning Scheme No.7 (the Scheme) was approved by the Minister for Planning, Lands, Housing and Homelessness, the Hon. John Carey and came into operation on the 28th September 2023.
The Scheme replaces Local Planning Scheme No. 6 (LPS6) as the principal statutory planning document within the Local Government Area, which outlines the way in which land is used and developed, guiding the Shire’s decision making with respect to such land use and development.
As with LPS6, the Scheme classifies areas for land use and includes provisions and development standards within the local government area. The Scheme (draft) was advertised for a period of 112 days, between December 2021 and March 2022.
Key changes of the Scheme include:
- Structure and content updated to reflect compliance with the Model Provisions – this was a change introduced by the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015, amended in December 2020 as part of major reform of WA’s State Planning System.
- Review of development standards (and built form requirements) to ensure compatibility with State Legislation and Policy, removing any inconsistencies in development requirements.
- Review of zones and reserves, updating to ensure general consistency with the Model Provisions and alignment.
- Full review of public purpose local reserves – in accordance with Regulations.
- Land Use Permissibility of ‘Holiday Houses’ (unhosted short-stay rental accommodation) within the ‘Residential’ zone from a ‘X’ (prohibited) use to a ‘D’ (discretionary) use which means the Shire now has the ability to consider the land use, subject to a development application being submitted and discretion exercised, which was not possible under LPS6. More information on this can be found on the website under the Holiday House page.
Other changes include:
- Amendment to the zones: Notably, Chinatown has changed from ‘Town Centre’ zone to ‘Centre (Regional)’ zone – consistent with the Model Provisions and recommendations of the Shire’s 2017 Local Commercial Strategy, ‘General Agriculture’ to ‘Rural’, ‘Development’ to ‘Urban Development’ and ‘Low Impact – Tourist’ has been removed as a zone.
- Mapping discrepancies corrected e.g., correction of Broome-Cape Leveque Road alignment.
- Review of the development standards in the Tourist, Regional Centre and Mixed-Use zone.
- Zoning for McMahon Estate – Lot 2441 Reid Road – rezoned to ‘Urban Development.’
The operation of Local Planning Scheme No.7 will be guided by the Shires long-term planning framework, which includes the updated Shire of Broome Local Planning Strategy (which was endorsed by the Western Australian Planning Commission in October 2023).
The Local Planning Strategy provides rationale for the direction of growth and development within the Shire over the next 10-15 years, while the Local Planning Scheme generally reflects the short-term land use (zoning) and development set out in the Local Planning Strategy.
Click here for the Local Planning Scheme No.7 and the Local Planning Strategy.
The Shire also has a publicly accessible online mapping system, Intramaps, which contains Local Planning Scheme No.7 zoning information maps and associated land parcel information.
Zoning information is also available on the State’s PlanWA website which can be accessed here
For any enquires about Local Planning Scheme No.7 please contact the Shire’s Planning Department on 9191 3456.