Mosman Park residents could soon get a say on if huge Rocky Bay site will be turned into more homes

Rocky Bay’s huge Mosman Park site is a step closer to being offered as residential lots, with a plan to rezone the area ahead of going to market winning council approval this week. The service provider plans to sell its 2.8ha McCabe Street site so it can fund its recently green-lit $78 million integrated disability, health and community services hub in Belmont. Urban planning firm Rowe Group lodged a scheme amendment on behalf of the organisation with the Town of Mosman Park in October, which called for zoning to be changed to residential. Scheme amendments can pave the way for development on a site through changes to zoning or increasing residential density. Rocky Bay’s request, which can’t be publicly advertised unless also permitted by Planning Minister John Carey, was presented to the council on Tuesday night. Councillors adopted the amendment for the purposes of community consultations, subject to modifications that would bring the scheme amendment more into line with local and State planning strategies. It came as town officers said redevelopment of the subject site was “never envisaged with the town’s local planning strategy” and the proposal was “at odds with the content of the strategy and is considered complex”. This was due to the area not being identified for increased density or for residential purposes in the local planning strategy. Modifications the town called for before the scheme amendment goes out for public consultation included a breakdown of the potential 350 dwellings to show likely bedroom numbers, and leveraging a demonstrated need for social and affordable housing. Town officers said adopting the amendment subject to modifications would allow the town to remain a proactive participant in the amendment process and allow for it to advocate for the interests and amenities of the Mosman Park community. The town will now seek the endorsements of the Minister for Planning and the Western Australian Planning Commission prior to undertaking any community consultation. Mayor Paul Shaw said if Mr Carey provided permission to advertise the scheme amendment, the town would “undertake significant consultation” to gather the community’s feedback. The council will then choose whether to adopt or refuse the scheme amendment before passing it to the WA Planning Commission and Mr Carey to determine. Rocky Bay chief executive Michael Tait welcomed the decision by councillors saying the purpose was to provide more clarity for potential purchasers around how future residential development could be considered. “This decision ensures the Scheme Amendment can be considered by the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage and the Minister for Planning in due course, for the purposes of approving it for public consultation,” Mr Tait said. “The proposed Scheme Amendment considered a wide range of feedback that we received from our local residents and other stakeholders, from the Town of Mosman Park, and with due consideration of the intentions of the Local Planning Policy for the McCabe Street precinct.”