Aspen's 295-home Ravenswood lifestyle village wins council backing

Aspen Group has won the Shire of Murray’s backing for a 295-home land lease community at Ravenswood, 88km south of Perth. Councillors passed it 7-2 on 22 October, a month after putting the decision off, according to The Weekly SOURCE on 2 November.

Why it matters

The September deferral came on a 7-1 vote to give the proposal more consideration. In the interim Aspen reworked its road layout, keeping Rodoreda Crescent as a cul-de-sac. Justin Mansillas, Aspen’s WA head of development, said the company chose to work with the Shire instead of going straight to the Western Australian Planning Commission. The earlier September meeting is covered separately.

The size of the project has grown. When The Weekly SOURCE reported Aspen’s purchase of 26ha of developable Ravenswood land in February 2025, joint chief executive David Dixon described a site already carrying an approved structure plan for 360 conventional lots. Aspen planned an over-50s community of at least 200 homes among them. The scheme approved on 22 October has 295 homes.

The numbers

The site is Lot 889 Rodoreda Crescent, near the Murray River. The lifestyle community would cover about 11ha of a 33.5ha site. It departs from the Shire’s East Ravenswood structure plan, though council planning officers judged it broadly in line with the plan’s aims and able to add housing choice for older residents. About 7ha of regional open space would be created, along with better public access to the river frontage.

What’s next

Aspen already runs the 180-home Mandurah Gardens lifestyle community nearby and is still growing its Western Australian land lease portfolio.