City of South Perth 

Canning Bridge Activity Centre Plan Engagement

Main Services

• Stakeholder Engagement
• Planning Context
• Statutory Planning Scheme Amendments
• Stakeholder Management

Shape Urban was engaged by the City of South Perth to deliver a deliberative engagement process for the community, the City’s administrative staff and elected members on the draft Canning Bridge Activity Centre Plan being advertised for public comment. The process reviewed existing objections, explained the planning objectives of the plan, worked with the community to understand its views on aspects of the plan, established resulting opportunities and concerns, and informed a set of clear and logical recommendations for change back to the City and the Western Australian Planning Commission.   

The team’s experience assisting the City develop the Canning Bridge Activity Centre Plan and its subsequent work with the City of Melville to review the plan allowed it to develop this specific deliberative engagement process that included three separate phases and the use of existing City databases, online platforms, surveys/polls, focus groups, Citizen Stakeholder Groups and elected member workshops.  

Key issues and themes raised by stakeholders were documented according to various demographic groups and specific and clear recommendations drafted to improve the draft plan and corresponding local planning scheme amendment 61. The process clarified the limited concerns of the community on the draft plan, allowed the community to be heard, and gave the City the comfort that its members had been appropriately and thoroughly involved in planning for the area that involved substantial changes.  

Being able to bring an agitated community on this journey demonstrates Shape Urban’s ability to work with communities to ensure people are heard, planning processes and their implications are understood and that final resulting community concerns are communicated in a way that allows the City to represent its members and consider changes required.