Mosman Park draft policy would cut approval for minor works

The Town of Mosman Park ran public consultation on a draft local planning policy that would let some minor developments skip development approval altogether, with submissions closing on 21 August. PerthNow reported on 21 October that the change could speed up housing supply in the suburb, but the Town’s own consultation page shows the draft, known as Local Planning Policy No. 49, has not been adopted by council.

LPP49 proposes exemptions for eight categories of minor work: variations to residential setbacks, small reductions in required open space, minor site works, temporary construction structures, internal works to commercial buildings, replacement signage, temporary viewing platforms, and solar collectors and water tanks. The draft excludes heritage places and any proposal likely to affect neighbouring properties or the streetscape. None of the exempted categories involve a new dwelling or a change of use; they are limited to the kind of small variations that currently still require a formal development application under the Town’s planning scheme.

Why it matters

Mosman Park is a built-out riverside suburb where most lots are already developed, so the practical effect of LPP49 falls on renovations and minor site changes rather than new subdivisions or apartment towers. Removing the approval step for setback variations and similar works would cut processing time and cost for homeowners and small builders, but it also shifts compliance checking away from a public application process. The draft’s own exclusion list, heritage places and streetscape-sensitive proposals, signals the Town is trying to limit the change to genuinely low-impact work rather than a broad deregulation of residential development.

PerthNow framed the draft as a step that “could soon” unlock more housing, but the Town’s consultation page gives no indication council has voted on adoption since submissions closed over two months ago. Until council formally adopts LPP49, every one of the eight exempted work types still requires a development application under the Town’s current rules.

The numbers

Consultation on the draft closed 21 August, exactly two months before PerthNow’s report. The policy lists eight distinct categories of work proposed for exemption, from setback variations to solar collectors, each subject to the heritage and streetscape carve-outs in the draft.

What’s next

The draft policy sits with the Town of Mosman Park pending a council decision on adoption. No developer or applicant is named in connection with LPP49, since it is a council-initiated policy change rather than a response to a specific project. Any homeowner or builder in the suburb still needs a development application for the listed work types until the Town confirms adoption, and ratepayers who made submissions during the consultation period have not yet had those addressed in a public council report.

The policy is a small, suburb-level move against a bigger backdrop. HIA WA has told the state government that even the 4700 skilled migrant places on offer fall short of what the construction sector needs to build the homes already approved, let alone any extra volume an approvals exemption might unlock. A council trimming red tape on minor works does nothing to fix that workforce gap, and Mosman Park’s own planning department will still need to resource whatever compliance checking replaces the formal application step for the eight exempted categories once, and if, council adopts the policy.

Residents who want to see the outcome of their submissions will need to watch the Town’s council agendas directly. Mosman Park publishes agendas and minutes ahead of each ordinary meeting, and an LPP49 adoption item would appear there before taking effect. Until then, PerthNow’s framing of homes being built “without planning approval” describes a possibility under a draft, not a rule in force in the suburb today.