Western Australia enacts Bennett Springs East improvement scheme, replacing Swan planning rules

The Western Australian Planning Commission has brought the Bennett Springs East Improvement Scheme No. 1 into operation, revoking the City of Swan Local Planning Scheme No. 17 and the Metropolitan Region Scheme across the scheme area. The scheme was published in the Government Gazette of Western Australia No. 131 of 16 October 2026, a special edition, and takes effect on the day of publication under section 122B of the Planning and Development Act 2005. Approval was granted by John Carey, Minister for Planning and Lands, on 27 May 2026.

A scheme that replaces local and regional controls

The instrument was made by the Western Australian Planning Commission under the powers conferred by the Planning and Development Act 2005. Clause 3 expressly revokes two planning regimes in the area:

• City of Swan Local Planning Scheme No. 17 (LPS 17), gazetted 18 February 2008
• The Metropolitan Region Scheme

The scheme states that no other local planning scheme and no other region planning scheme applies to the scheme area, and that where its provisions conflict with a local law, the scheme prevails. It is to be read in conjunction with the Bennett Springs East Improvement Scheme Report and incorporates the Deemed Provisions of Schedule 2 of the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015.

Transit-oriented development around the new station

The stated aims centre on integrating development of Bennett Springs East Station with the surrounding area and planning a contemporary transit-oriented development with a mix of residential, commercial and retail uses. The scheme also commits to a safe and efficient transport network for public transport users, pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, coordinated infrastructure delivery, high-quality built form and public realm design, and best-practice sustainability, water-sensitive urban design, energy efficiency and bushfire safety. A further aim is to facilitate private sector investment and partnership.

Five zones are established: Residential, Neighbourhood Centre, Local Centre, Private Community Purposes and Urban Development. Four local reserves are set aside — Public Open Space, Environmental Conservation, Railways and Local Distributor Road — and there are no regional reserves. The zoning table permits single houses, grouped and multiple dwellings and residential care facilities in the Residential zone, while shops, offices, medical centres, restaurants and liquor stores — small are permitted in the two centres. There are no restricted uses, no special use zones and no special control areas.

Cheltenham Street poultry use extinguished

Two provisions target Lot 505 on Deposited Plan 416046—60, Cheltenham Street. The scheme grants an additional use of egg processing and distribution on that land, but the authorisation expires five years from commencement. At the same time, the existing poultry farm and intensive poultry-keeping use on the same lot is listed as a non-conforming use that becomes unlawful on the date the scheme commences.

Land within 500 metres of that lot carries an additional development requirement: sensitive land uses under State Planning Policy 2.5 Rural Planning remain subject to the discretion of the Western Australian Planning Commission even where designated a permitted use, and the commission may refuse or condition approvals to require odour attenuation measures or notifications on title warning of potential odour. Those requirements run for 12 months from commencement. Claims for compensation for injurious affection from the extinguishment of a non-conforming use must be lodged within six months.

Approval trail and effect on landowners

The commission resolved to approve advertising of the scheme on 11 September 2024 and resolved to support its approval on 20 May 2026. The common seal was affixed in the presence of Emma Cole, Chairperson, and Jonathan Mesnard, A/Secretary. The scheme also extinguishes or varies restrictive covenants that would cap the number of dwellings below what the new rules allow, subject to development approval and advertising.

For owners, developers and residents of Perth’s north-east, the change transfers planning control from the City of Swan to the Western Australian Planning Commission and replaces the former local and regional frameworks with a single instrument designed to unlock residential, commercial and transport development around the new station.

Source: Government Gazette of Western Australia (WA), No. 131, 16 October 2026, Special, p. 2313 (official reference: Bennett Springs East Improvement Scheme No. 1).