Refund on planning fees to boost Freo's COVID recovery
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The City of Fremantle will refund planning fees on major development projects as part of a suite of measures to boost Fremantle’s economic recovery from COVID-19.
Last night Fremantle Council approved the introduction of a refund of City planning fees on significant developments that currently have or are granted development approval and start construction within the next two years.
A significant development is defined as a new residential development comprising 10 or more dwellings or a commercial development creating more than 1000 square metres of floor space.
Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt said the move was designed to provide an incentive for developers to go ahead with major projects.
“The City of Fremantle has had a long-term plan to attract more investment and get more people living and working in the city centre, and you only have to look around at the transformation that is currently underway to see the plan is working,” Mayor Pettitt said.
“The City currently has a development pipeline of projects with a total value of around $1.5 billion, delivering more than 1700 new residential dwellings, almost 53,000 square metres of office space and nearly 37,000 square metres of retail and hospitality space.
“Of that about $565 million worth of construction has recently been completed and projects worth another $171 million are currently under construction, but there’s also another $264 million worth of projects that have development approval and are waiting to be built, and a further $516 million worth of projects that are still in the planning phase.
“By offering a refund on the City’s planning fees we’re hoping that will encourage the people behind some of these projects to hit the go button and get these developments underway.”
Changing the City’s planning conditions to support new development and increase flexibility in the use of existing buildings was a recommendation of the council’s Economic Recovery Working Group – one of three working groups established to drive Fremantle’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other planning changes adopted by the council include expanding the number of land uses in the city centre and other activity centres that don’t require council approval and extending the exemption for minor internal works on local heritage sites to commercial buildings.