Community invited to Design Forum for Broome North

Planning for the Broome North development continues to gather pace with a series of planning and design sessions to be held in Broome next month.

Lands Minister Brendon Grylls said LandCorp would host a four-day Planning Design Forum (PDF), from August 19 to August 22 at the Mangrove Resort Hotel, to guide the development of the 725ha site.

Mr Grylls said a selection of sessions would be open to the Broome community, who were being encouraged to participate.  Other technical sessions would be held with local stakeholders, designers, architects and town planners.

"This is the community's chance to become involved in this major project at a very early stage.  Community input is invaluable to us at this point of planning the development and will help shape Broome North to ensure everyone's needs are considered," he said.

LandCorp, working closely with the Shire of Broome, traditional owners and the community, aim to provide Broome with a range of options to deliver more affordable land and homes to cater for the future expansion of the town.

The Minister said the site had the capacity to provide several thousand homes, as well as land for schools, service worker accommodation, retirement homes, tourism, light industrial and commercial opportunities.

"We're also aiming to release large blocks of land, known as superlots, to the private sector who will then develop the land, to help deliver housing at a faster rate and increase competition in the market," he said.

Key aims of the forum include:

·        identifying what matters to the local community and other key stakeholders in the development of the land

·        detailing the issues, opportunities and values of the Broome North site

·        establishing the overarching design principles for future development and how these can be incorporated into a development plan

·        agreeing on the best urban design and built form outcomes that reflect the land's values and the vision of the community

·        preparing a draft design concept that has the support of forum participants.

The concept plan produced during the PDF will form a development plan for the area which will be submitted to the necessary authorities for approvals.

For details of the public sessions, visit http://www.landcorp.com.au/broomenorth