HON ALISON XAMON (North Metropolitan) [ 8.49 pm ]: I rise tonight to speak about the future of the Claisebrook Road North area in East Perth. I am particularly concerned about what will happen to the concrete batching plants in this area in the future. For those members who may not be aware of the precinct that I am referring to, it is the part of Claisebrook that is bounded by Lord Street, Summers Street, the railway and the Graham Farmer Freeway. It was initially part of the East Perth redevelopment area but it passed back into local government control in 2002. Since 2007, when there was a boundary redistribution from the City of Perth, the City of Vincent has been responsible for the local government. At the moment, East Perth redevelopment scheme 1 is still the local planning document that governs the use of that land. However, the City of Vincent went through a really thorough and complete planning process and developed a new local planning scheme for the whole city, which included this area. The council adopted what is known as town planning scheme 2 in November 2014. One of the things I am very concerned about and why I want to speak about it in this place today is that, to date, the scheme has not been approved and gazetted. The vision for this particular area, which I walk through very regularly, is for a high-density mixed-use residential, commercial and light industrial precinct. We are talking about quite high density residential — up to R160 in places. It is exactly the sort of development that we should be looking at for the inner city. I am really quite excited about what has been proposed. As I said, I walk through that area regularly and I have seen what is proposed for the specific streets, and I think it is perfect for the area. It will provide jobs, homes and opportunities for the residents and businesses that will really make it quite a vibrant and unique area. It is also part of what will be the gateway to the stadiums. People walk to NIB Stadium now and will do so more, as well as towards the other stadium. I walk over there when I go to the WACA. Go Scorchers!
I want to talk about the concrete batching plants in that area because that is the big spoiler in the precinct. There are two concrete batching plants on the edge of that precinct. The batching plants have been on this site since the mid-1990s. They were originally on different sites in East Perth but they were moved as part of the construction of the Graham Farmer Freeway. Originally, the East Perth Redevelopment Authority gave the operator of the plants a licence until October 2012, when it was envisaged that they would have to be moved. The operator was granted another five-year licence, which takes it through to 17 October this year. The City of Vincent has given it a one-year licence to finalise its operations once and for all and to move on. Despite all the time that the operator has had to plan and knowing about the existence of TPS2, nothing has been done about moving these batching plants to a more suitable site; in fact, the operator is currently appealing to the State Administrative Tribunal to be allowed to operate in East Perth indefinitely. The decision has been called in by the Minister for Planning. I notice that two papers were tabled under section 246 of the Planning and Development Act 2005. This is in line with other decisions taken with these plants. The decision in 2012 to allow the plants to operate for another five years was also as a result of the minister at that time calling that in. The last ministerial decision to give the batching plants five years through to this year was made on the understanding that a number of planning documents would be finalised by the time the licences were due to expire. The minister at the time wanted those documents to demonstrate the ultimate strategic intent of the land. The planning documents that were completed in that time include the economic and employment land strategy, which looks at non-heavy industrial, and the capital city planning framework. The planning documents, which are currently in draft or are just waiting to be signed off, include the central sub-regional planning framework for Perth and Peel@3.5million and the City of Vincent town planning scheme 2, which I have already mentioned, and the local planning strategy.
The strategic intent for the development of the land is really clear. A high-density residential, commercial, transit-oriented development is the ultimate intent for not only that site but also the whole precinct. None of these documents identify those sites as being future industrial. None of the documents require that the batching plants remain at their current locations; instead, the documents have ruled out the concrete batching plants as a suitable use for those sites and in that precinct. It is a real blight on the future of that precinct at the moment. The Claisebrook Road North area falls well short against other benchmark areas such as Highgate and East Perth in key metrics such as population, employment and value-adding to the land. Simply removing the concrete batching plants and developing the sites to the level of what is currently around them could provide another 190 residents with homes but if we are able to develop the precinct in the manner that is envisaged by the City of Vincent, that would add a minimum of 600 residents and 880 jobs and add $47 million to the local economy. I can tell members that local residents really want this. The sites alone could accommodate 300 two-bedroom units. The presence of the concrete batching plants and the uncertainty of whether they will ever move on has resulted in at least three approved apartment developments not being started. Additionally, residential development is currently prohibited in the areas, which is close to the concrete batching plants. It includes a significant section where the city would like to see 10-storey mixed-use residential and commercial development and another large section for a four-storey development.
Concrete batching is an industrial use. The Environmental Protection Authority recommends that ordinarily there would be a buffer of about 300 to 500 metres between concrete batching plants and sensitive land uses such as residential. As it is, all of the Claisebrook Road North precinct area is within 500 metres of either of these concrete batching plants and most of it is within 300 metres. T hey cannot be accommodated in the area for the long term. To give the space that these concrete batching plants need in order to not cause conflict with the community, we would need to put the whole plan for a mixed-use transit-oriented development on hold. What a waste of this area, which is serviced by two train stations and has multiple bus connections on Lord Street and is such a wonderful potential part of Perth.
In previous years a lot has been said about the need to have the concrete batching plants to service development needs in the city. It is interesting that the proponents have identified projects at the far end of the city as relevant reasons to be allowed to continue permanently in East Perth, including projects like the Mitchell Freeway extension. Simply, if 50 kilometres is an acceptable distance to service the Mitchell Freeway extension, there is no argument for why the plants need to be located in East Perth in order to service the CBD. In my dealings with this matter, it has been further borne out by the experience of the developers who have said that they are finding it cheaper and easier to get their concrete from Wanneroo anyway than from the batching plants a few streets over. That is where they are getting it. Apparently, it is easier for concrete suppliers to provide concrete half an hour away so they can allow the mixing to be completed in the truck rather than on site. The batching plants cannot stay where they are; they really have to go. They are seriously inhibiting appropriate development of this inner-city precinct and there is no need for them to be where they are. I am calling on this government to please sign off on town planning scheme 2. It has been waiting long enough. Residents and local businesses want this. It also needs to be made clear to the operators that there will be no more extensions. The companies need to accept that they were never meant to be there permanently in the first place and they need to start making plans to move to an appropriate location.