Bushfire fears block Preston Beach subdivision plan

Fears that Preston Beach will not be safe in a bushfire emergency have prompted State Planners to reject a subdivision proposal.

The WA Planning Commission’s Statutory Planning Committee voted against the proposal for Lot 340 Lakeside Terrace at its meeting on October 7.

Under the proposal, the 1.16ha property would be subdivided into nine residential lots and a road.

The proposed lots ranged from 826sqm to 1613sqm.

But WAPC planning officers said the application did not meet bushfire protection or wastewater servicing requirements and had recommended it be rejected.

A subdivision application from the Shire of Waroona for a nearby site in 2023 was rejected for similar reasons.

Reasons for the rejection of the latest proposal included the Preston Beach townsite was not a suitable evacuation point during and after a bushfire emergency.

The Lakeside Terrace site has been identified as bushfire prone, is at the end of a no-through road that is about 9km long and in a sensitive water resource area where reticulated sewerage is unavailable.

The departments of Fire and Emergency Services and Health did not support the proposal.

DFES said there were no community facilities, structures or designated evacuation centres in the Preston Beach town site that would provide a safe place of refuge and it was likely to be included in any emergency warnings.

“A suitable destination could not be within a designated bushfire-prone area,” senior planner Taylor Goddard told the committee.

DFES said the nearest suitable destination was Dawesville, which was more than 40km from the site and raised access concerns.

Approving the subdivision was also feared to create a precedent for more subdivision in the Preston Beach townsite.

In a written submission to the committee, property owner Karl Robson asked for the proposal to be approved “without further delay”.

He said it had been more than seven months since he first engaged with the WAPC.

“This proposal is already supported by local council, has access to evacuation areas via two public roads and will comply with bylaws for onsite wastewater treatment,” his submission said.

“In terms of any precedence for subdivision within bushfire impacted locations, my understanding is that precedence has already been established in similarly affected areas such as Myalup or Binningup and in particular as recently as 2023 approval was granted for a nine-lot subdivision of lot 518 Valentine Rd, Binningup.”

The Shire of Waroona had backed the proposal subject to standard conditions. It did not raise any concerns about bushfire access or wastewater servicing.

Deputy committee chair Ray Haeren said there should be a review of how to deal with the township in light of the bushfire requirements.

“There might be value in having a conversation about the provisions and the legal obligations and risk profile the shire would face should it deal with it inappropriately,” he said.

A planning officer told the committee the shire had been “pretty consistent” in supporting subdivisions and development at Preston Beach.

“They are a bit stuck — to the east they’ve got Ramsar wetlands, reserved to the north,” he said.

“Effectively they need to get another road in there and if you’re going to push a road in there, it’s going to have significant environmental impacts and that’s where they’re a bit stuck.”