HOCKING LAND COMPANY PTY LTD and CITY OF WANNEROO

The matter before the court involved Hocking Land Company Pty Ltd and the City of Wanneroo, where the City proposed to amend an Agreed Structure Plan (ASP) to reclassify a portion of land from 'Special Residential' to 'Residential R20'. The land in question was zoned partly 'Urban Development' and partly 'Special Residential' under the local planning scheme, and was classified as 'Special Residential' in the ASP. The applicants challenged the proposed amendment, asserting that it was inconsistent with the zoning and would not serve the planning purpose of the 'Special Residential' zoning and classification. The court was tasked with determining whether the ASP could be amended to reclassify the land in a manner inconsistent with the zoning and whether the proposed reclassification was inconsistent with orderly and proper planning.

The court considered the legal issues concerning the power of the City to amend the ASP and the appropriate test to be applied in reviewing the strategic planning decision. It found that cl 9.8.2 of the Development Plan Supplement (DPS) 2 permitted the Council to amend the ASP even if the proposed classification was inconsistent with the underlying Scheme zoning. The court noted that par (b) of cl 9.8.2 of the Scheme gave primacy to the R20 density over the R2 density, allowing the ASP to impose a classification on land. Consequently, the Council, and the Tribunal on review, had the power to amend the ASP to classify the part of the applicants' land which was zoned 'Special Residential' as 'Residential R20'. The court also discussed the threshold question of the test to be applied by the Tribunal in the strategic planning review decision.

The court concluded that the application for review was allowed, permitting the amendment of the ASP to reclassify the land as 'Residential R20'. The court determined that the proposed reclassification would not be inconsistent with orderly and proper planning and would continue to meet the planning purpose of the 'Special Residential' zoning and classification. The court considered various factors, including residential amenity, height of retaining walls, overshadowing, privacy, urban design, and streetscape consistency, in reaching its decision.