COUNCILLORS unanimously voted in favour of their own Madora Bay North outline development plan (ODP) at Tuesday’s council meeting.
Going against City of Mandurah officers’ recommendation to approve applicant CLE Town Planning and Design’s plan for the development at Lot 100 Mandurah Road, councillors voted with the modified ODP they produced in a workshop last week.
The modified ODP was devised with changes including the relocation of half the central public open space (POS) to the north-west border, an extension of the POS in the north-east, movement of the ecological transect linkage streets to the north, running east to west and replacing the deleted central POS with R40 and R25 coded land, extending the existing mixed use and residential areas.
Councillor Caroline Knight said the modified ODP had a better distribution of POS, the local centre was a positive change and the interface issues were addressed.
“We want this land to remain a unique part of Mandurah,” Cr Lynn Rodgers said.
“I believe a buffer is vital. I am hoping the developer will go and accept this ODP.”
A CLE spokesperson said a discussion with their client, Madora Bay Partnerships was set to take place to decide whether to appeal the decision.
“There’s still a bit more to do on this,” the spokesperson said.
“There are still a few options which we can take. From here it still needs to go to the Planning Commission so we’ll see how we go.”
Madora Bay resident Craig Salt, who was behind a local movement to develop an alternate plan for the development, said council’s modified ODP wasn’t 100 per cent perfect but “most closely met the aspirations of local community members”.
“I urge Madora Bay Partnerships and [owner John] Perry to act on the wishes of the community he lives in and operates,” he said.
Cr Fred Riebeling said he did not see a reason for Madora Bay Partnerships to refuse the modified ODP and thought the developer would end up with a better development.
“[The modified ODP] can get the best of both worlds,” he said. “If we ignore people’s input, you do it at your own peril.”
A final decision will be made by the WAPC.