Perth infill backlash: Suburbs fighting high-density development

In the first of a three-part series, we outline how residents from Fremantle to the garden suburb of Floreat are fighting State Government plans to increase urban density to cater for an expected 3.5 million people by 2050.

Perth is a clear example of a sprawling city, where much of the housing supply comes as low-density, detached dwellings and greenfield development on the urban fringes accounts for almost three-quarters of all new development.

The Western Australian Government earlier this year released a plan for the future face of Perth, dubbed Perth and Peel@3.5 million. It calls for increased housing density and plans for a population increase of 1.5 million people by 2050, including:

800,000 new homes will be required to accommodate 1.5 million extra people

380,00 of these will be in strategic infill positions

78 per cent of the current housing supply are detached houses

Housing affordability doesn't always mean living affordability

Provide greater housing choice for an ageing population and diverse households

2014 rates of infill development reached just 28 per cent but will need to rise to 47 per cent by 2050

The cost of Perth's congestion was estimated to be nearly $1 billion in 2009; by 2020, it could more than double to $2.1 billion

"Perth is a clear example of a sprawling city, where much of the housing supply comes as low-density, detached dwellings and greenfield development on the urban fringes accounts for almost three quarters of all new development.

"If we do not plan for population growth and manage the future urban form of our city, growth pressures and unfavourable patterns of development can have serious impacts on our communities and their environments.

"These include a lack of access to essential infrastructure and services or increased response times for emergency services. New urban areas must be planned to reduce dependency on private vehicle use, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

"People living in areas with limited access to public transport or jobs will experience increased travel time to access work in other areas, traffic congestion and higher private transport costs to households as well as reduced leisure time, declining community health and increasing obesity as walking and riding become less practical."

Perth and Peel @ 3.5 million is open for public comment until July 31, 2015.

[Residents] are furious, ... because this has just been dumped on us. This is a beautiful area which is built, ... roads and facilities are for a leafy large [single] home.

Moved into his City Beach home in 1960

Fears City Beach and Floreat do not have the infrastructure to support infill development

Worried about traffic issues and rubbish

"[Residents] are furious, ... because this has just been dumped on us, it wasn't done in the way that their own corporate governance says things should be done.

"It should have been discussed with the people, they should have known what was proposed, but they put it through council and council agreed to it.

"This is a beautiful area which is built, and roads and facility are for a leafy large [single] home."

"When you change that, all the things fall down on you.

"What they want to do is put extra people into this space, and the way our council is going is they want to put most of the people into City Beach and Floreat and Mount Claremont.

"It's not set up [with] the infrastructure for infill, the roads are winding,

"They're currently starting to put more concrete into the roads which are already small, it's called traffic calming.

"But it has the reverse affect, buses can't get round, and people get, that's where you get your road rage from.

"There was a mass protest meeting across at the Boulevard shopping centre and it was absolutely packed with people, and they were all walks of life, young, old, Maseratis, Mercedes Benzs, top of the rich list, and the average people who have lived here as long as I have."

We are trying to give people more housing choice in Floreat and City Beach, traditionally it's been a garden suburb with small houses and over time, those small houses are being replaced with much larger houses and we are losing all our small housing stock.

Infill is about diversity and giving people more choice

Plans are focused on Wembley and Leederville, not City Beach

There needs to be more community education

"Over 40 percent of our community are either one or two person households so we need to have a variety of housing to service our community.

"Our infill strategy is taking place in Wembley and West Leederville and we're putting hundreds, maybe thousands of homes over the next 10 years into those areas.

"The amount of additional accommodation that will find itself into City Beach and Floreat will be very, very small.

"We're not trying to increase the level of infill in those areas, we are trying to increase the level of housing diversity.

"We don't want to wind up with a mansion monoculture.

"All the discussion and all the analysis and all the debate is taking place at the upper levels of Government and none of it is percolating through to the community.

"I think the Government needs to spend more time educating the community.

"Those ads you see about the bigger picture showing all the hospitals and buildings - those ads should be about the need for housing change otherwise councils like ours are going to be going through groundhog day time and time and time, hundreds of times again and again, every time there's a planning change, we are going to see the same opposition."

The fact that the council is pushing ridiculous developments like this, ... they have no feeling for the character of Fremantle, ... it's almost this social experiment to add people here.

Not against affordable housing, but concerned about lack of infrastructure to support high-density housing in their area.

Concerned narrow roads in Fremantle area will get clogged with traffic, if up to 200 apartments built.

Also worried about the heritage character of Fremantle being lost, as modern, high-density infill occurs.

Concerned R160 (high-density multi-dwelling zoning) is far too high for non-central city areas.

Will move if the development goes ahead.

"If you're in St Georges Terrace or Adelaide Terrace it makes sense to put in a high rise up there, and high-density makes a lot of sense.

"To go and put six-storey-high buildings, or a cluster of six-storey high buildings in here is not appropriate.

"It doesn't have the amenities or [is] surrounded by the infrastructure that is required for that sort of density.

"We're not against development, we're not against affordable housing, we're certainly not against state housing. State housing was there when we first arrived.

"The increase from R60 to R160 is excessive.

"I would like to live in Fremantle. The fact that the council is pushing ridiculous developments like this, ... they have no feeling for the character of Fremantle. They shouldn't be in charge of the damn place."

We think there is scope in a place like Fremantle to get greater density. The number people actually living either right in or close to the heart of Fremantle is comparatively low for a city of its kind.

Fremantle is underdeveloped and can accommodate further infill

The area has good transport and work options

Council constrained development at the site

"We know that future of urban development in the Perth region needs to involve more urban infill and Fremantle is a place that can accommodate that because there are some areas in the city where there is substantial pieces of land that are underdeveloped."

"Fremantle can support population density, it's an area where there are jobs and also transport connections..there is diversity of social and economic opportunities.

"Fremantle is the perfect place for it.

"The City understands the concerns of local residents.

"The upcoding that has been proposed for that particular site will potentially bring more people to the site but the council acted to constraint the build development so that the form and the height of the buildings will be not significantly different from the lower codes."

There are some issues with some types of density, so where the density isn't leading to better amenity and better vibrancy in the community then [they're] probably not great outcomes.

Perth needs planned precincts, rather than sprinkled infill throughout the metropolitan areas

Some types of density won't lead to more vibrancy

Local needs need to be balanced with making the most of Perth's infrastructure.

"When you get density you get the 'coffee effect'. You suddenly get enough people in that area to justify a coffee shop.

"When you get to precincts, you can suddenly justify a small bar and a restaurant but you have to have enough people in and around that area, so density brings with it the coffee effect, that great vibrancy that comes through.

"[But] when you've got small little bits of density, you don't get the coffee shop effect. So we've got to go with the planned precinct scale.

"The issue for many people is, change is scary yet everybody loves a great area where they can visit or live where they've got lots of coffee shops and vibrancy.

"The local Governments and the State Government have made some decisions and the developers are simply doing what the land is lawfully zoned for so it's about getting involved very early in the process, understanding how the planning system works.

"We need the Government to actually say, we are going to invest, this is where we are going to invest and we are going to stick to the plan.

"A lot of the developers work very well with the local Governments but some local Governments aren't supportive of the state policies and that makes it very difficult to get things through the system.

"It's about trying to balance out very local needs with the need to make the most of our infrastructure."

I am greatly concerned that the case for density is not being properly explained, the community is frustrated and quite frankly, there's this massive push for density but the infrastructure that is required behind it isn't there.

Transport woes are afflicting high-density developments without access to public transport

Perth risks building tomorrow's slums without adequate planning

Vincent has a target to supply 11,500 infill dwellings by 2050

"I am greatly concerned that the case for density is not being properly explained, the community is frustrated and quite frankly, there's this massive push for density but the infrastructure that is required behind it isn't there.

"What you are seeing is this community push back, and rightly so, where they are seeing high density development coming in - being told by the State Government these people are going to be using public transport but in fact they are not because there is no public transport around them or it's poor, and instead they are sticking to their car habits.

If you are living near one of these high density buildings, you've got all these cars, al this traffic and of course it's affecting your amenity

It's really great for the State Government and bureaucrats and young, inner city planners [to say] hey, we need high density planning.

"But when you look at some of the buildings being produced or proposed, they are absolute crap ... and the question is - are we in Perth - building the future slums?

You only have to look out some of the buildings that are already in Vincent and I'm embarrassed by them, I don't think they are good quality buildings, I don't think they add to the aesthetics or to the appeal of our community and I do think we need tougher and higher standards on developers.

"I do think you need to set targets, ... otherwise I think that perhaps local Government can be slow and I also think it's needed because some councils like Vincent are carrying our weight and other councils are not, ... like maybe in the Western suburbs."

Coming up: The case for infill





Topics: urban-development-and-planning, community-and-society, housing, government-and-politics, perth-6000