AFTER a long journey, the Madora Bay North development outline development plan (ODP) was finally approved by the Western Australian Planning Commission’s (WAPC) Statutory Planning Committee meeting this week.
The ODP has come under much scrutiny since it came to the table in May last year; the most recent of which questioned the legalities of the WAPC’s operations.
When the ODP first went before the WAPC on March 10, what was recommended for approval was not the City of Mandurah-endorsed plan.
Instead, what came before the committee was a modified version.
The decision of that meeting was deferred so the WAPC could seek legal advice.
This was after Madora Bay resident Craig Salt questioned the legalities of WAPC officers recommending an ODP which differed from the City-endorsed plan in his deputation to the committee.
At the time, Mr Salt said community opinion was “basically ignored”.
A WAPC spokesperson said the details of the legal advice given were not available to the public.
The ODP reappeared on the committee’s agenda last week, this time with officers suggesting to reject the modified plan which they recommended only months before.
Mr Salt was notified on Thursday that committee members had approved an ODP which was “everything [the community] hoped for and more”.
“The City of Mandurah, the WAPC and the community are now all on the same page,” Mr Salt said.
The ODP covers an area of about 143 hectares at Lot 101 Mandurah Road, Madora Bay, bound by Singleton and Madora Bay, and seeks to facilitate the development of the site for about 1500 residential lots.
The approved plan also included more public open space than what was in the original WAPC ODP.
