One of the most significant planning exercises undertaken since the formation of the City of Greater Geraldton has been gazetted.

The City’s new Local Planning Strategy and Scheme has been approved by Minister for Planning, John Day and is now a public document.

The Local Planning Strategy guides long-term land use planning and provides the rationale for land use and development control. It has directly responded to the outcomes of the 2029 and Beyond Designing our City Forum that was held in 2011.

City of Greater Geraldton CEO, Ken Diehm said the Local Planning Scheme adopted a planning approach in line with the City and community’s vision for the future of Greater Geraldton.

“Our goal is to be a region with the capacity to sustain a prosperous, diverse and sustainable community population of 80,000-100,000,” he said.

“One of the main functions of Town Planning is to ensure that development and land use proposals are appropriate for the area and maintain and improve our quality of life.

“This new strategy and scheme will enable our community to grow and meet our goals and create a vibrant future for Greater Geraldton.”

Before the introduction of the new scheme, the City was operating under four local planning schemes, the town planning schemes of Geraldton, Greenough, Mullewa and part of Cape Burney.

The new process has seen these existing schemes comprehensively reviewed, updated and consolidated into a single new scheme.