City of Fremantle
Coastal Charm
Local governments are required by the State Government under the Planning and Development Act 2005 to review their local planning schemes approximately every 5 years. In 2025, the City reviewed the current Local Planning Scheme No. 4 and determined that it was no longer fit for purpose as, despite a number of amendments, it was over 19 years old and did not fully reflect contemporary requirements and was inconsistent with the latest state regulations which have changed significantly over time.
In early 2026, the Western Australian Planning Commission endorsed the fact that a new scheme is needed, and City Officers began drafting the new Local Planning Scheme No. 5. This draft was influenced by stakeholder workshops, regular Planning Committee Framework meetings and workshops, and informal community consultation where the staff had a chance to hear from the community on what they value in the City, and what they think should be covered in the draft scheme.
This work is the beginning of what could take two years or more.
The City is aiming to present a new draft scheme to Council for initiation on Wednesday 28 October 2026. Once initiated, it is then referred to the Environmental Protection Authority and the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) for review. Once the DPLH is satisfied, they make a recommendation to the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) for formal permission to advertise. The WAPC then makes a recommendation to the Minister for Planning, who determines whether the scheme can be advertised with or without amendments.
Once approval is granted, the City formally advertises the complete draft of the scheme for 90 days, collects and responds to submissions from community and proposes any amendments before sending it back to Council for adoption. Then it goes back through the DPLH to the Minister, who makes a final decision.
Local Planning Schemes work alongside other local and State planning documents. Some set the long-term direction for growth and development.
Others provide rules or more detailed guidance for particular locations and types of development.
A Strategic Community Plan sets the community’s long-term priorities and the overall direction for the City’s work.
It guides all City departments and helps inform the broader direction of planning.
A Local Planning Strategy sets the City’s long-term planning direction, generally over a 15-year period. It identifies opportunities and constraints to guide population growth and future development.
The strategy guides the preparation of the Local Planning Scheme.
A Local Structure Plan guides land use and redevelopment across larger areas, they draw on supporting studies to plan how an area may develop over time.
View the City’s Local Structure Plans
A Local Development Plan provides a detailed planning guidance for particular sites, blocks or neighbourhoods. They can include requirements to guide how land is redeveloped and where buildings are located.
View the City’s Local Development Plans
A Local Planning Policy provides guidance for assessing land use and development proposals. Some apply to particular areas, while others address particular activities or types of development.
Policies guide decision-making and allow discretion when assessing proposals. View the City’s local planning policies
Local planning schemes set out the way land is to be used and developed, classify areas for land use and include provisions to coordinate infrastructure and development within the local government area. This is set out via scheme text and maps.
The scheme forms the basis for all planning decisions in the City, and is supplemented by the Residential Design Codes, State Planning Policies, Local Planning Policies, Local Development Plans and Structure Plans.
The scheme is used to assess proposals to develop land, construct buildings, establish a business or deliver infrastructure.
Planners use it alongside other planning documents to assess whether a proposal is appropriate for its location.
Landowners and businesses can also refer to the scheme to understand which land uses and development requirements apply to a property.
Local governments are to review their local planning schemes every 5 years.
In 2025, the City reviewed the current Local Planning Scheme No. 4 and determined that it was no longer fit for purpose as, despite a number of amendments, it was over 19 years old and did not fully reflect contemporary requirements, and was inconsistent with the latest state regulations which have changed significantly over time.
In early 2026, the Western Australian Planning Commission endorsed the fact that a new scheme is needed.
The review considers:
The new scheme will look very different from the current scheme. Local Planning Scheme 4 was first gazetted in 2007. Now, any new planning scheme must be in the manner and form set out in the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015.
The new scheme must be consistent with state planning policies and be guided by the City’s recently endorsed Local Planning Strategy.
City Officers understand from discussions with the Department of Planning and other local governments that are drafting new schemes that a new local planning scheme should be streamlined but may be supported by local planning policies.
It could take 2 years or more.
The City is aiming to present a new draft scheme to Council for initiation before the end of 2026.
Once initiated, it is then referred to the Environmental Protection Authority and the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) for review. Once the DPLH is satisfied, they make a recommendation to the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) for formal permission to advertise.
The WAPC then makes a recommendation to the Minister for Planning, who determines whether the scheme can be advertised with or without amendments.
Once advertising permission is granted, the City formally advertises the complete draft of the scheme for 90 days, collects and responds to submissions and proposes any amendments before sending it back to Council with another recommendation. From there it’s back to the WAPC and, finally, the Minister for Planning to make a final decision.
The current planning scheme will remain in effect until the new scheme is approved by the Minister for Planning and gazetted.
Informal consultation on the key themes and objectives of the draft scheme to date has been carried out via:
No.
Local planning policies will continue to have effect and will remain in force unless specifically amended or revoked by Council. However, as part of a separate process, the City has almost completed reviewing and amending all of the current local planning policies to update and simplify them in preparation for the new scheme.
New policies may be proposed to supplement the new scheme in the future.
In some cases, yes.
Some structure plan areas are fully or partially developed and will be rationalised into a standard zone and density code on the new scheme map. Other areas still have valid structure plans in place and will remain as is. Part of the new scheme process includes reviewing all structure plan areas to determine whether they should remain, be amended, or removed.
If a structure plan area is completely rationalised into the new scheme map, the corresponding structure plan will no longer apply. If a structure plan area is only partially rationalised, the structure plan may have to be amended through a separate process but, in the interim, the plan will still apply to the remaining area.
The scheme process does not change heritage listings. Review and amendment of heritage listed places and heritage areas is a separate process.
The draft scheme protects heritage by:
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