A WYNDHAM councillor has broken ranks with his colleagues.
Cr Intaj Khan last week refused to back motions supported by councillors Peter Maynard, Peter Gibbons, Marie Brittan and Shane Bourke to prevent the council’s planning schemes from being amended to include precinct structure plans (PSPs) for Ballan Road and Westbrook until necessary infrastructure is put in place.
Instead, Cr Khan urged his fellow councillors to approve the amendments, saying Wyndham needed more growth.
“Since more people are moving here, we need more PSPs and more growth so more people can buy land and build their dream home,” he said.
As reported by the Weekly, the Ballan Road and Westbrook PSPs would add about 11,500 houses to the west of the municipality.
Councillors have issued the Growth Areas Authority with a list of 12 issues they want resolved before they will allow the city’s planning scheme to be amended to include the PSPs.
The list includes a cap and trigger system that would link land release to infrastructure development, increased open space and housing diversity. Cr Bourke said the list was necessary because the council had “done its best to overcome the growth without infrastructure”.
“This motion gives a clear a message to the GAA,” Cr Bourke said.
“We need to take a stand or we will get to the stage where there are 300,000-400,000 people and pie-in- the-sky [infrastructure] promises.”
The authority said it was working with the council to address its concerns.
