Assessment of development, subdivision and rezoning proposals in unsewered areas
The Department of Health is responsible for providing public health advice relating to developments, subdivisions, and local government planning scheme amendments in unsewered areas.
The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) consults the Department of Health on all subdivision applications in the state. Local Government authorities consult the Department for development applications and planning scheme amendments.
All unsewered subdivisions, density developments and rezoning proposals must meet the following Department of Health WA policies:
When assessing an application for development, subdivision or rezoning, the Department of Health may consider the following public health issues:
The suitability of a lot for long-term on-site wastewater disposal;
The provision of safe drinking water;
Contaminated land sites;
Public health nuisances, e.g. mosquitoes, noise, vibration, odour, dust and particulates.
Please refer to the Healthy Planning and Development website for more information.
Revised draft Government Sewerage Policy
It has been identified that the existing Government Sewerage Policies (Government Sewerage Policy – Perth Metropolitan Region, established in 1981, and draft Country Sewerage Policy, introduced in 2002), should be reviewed in light of the ages of the policies, the ongoing draft status of the Country Sewerage Policy, and changes in wastewater technologies in Western Australia.
The revised draft Government Sewerage Policy (policy) has been rewritten in order to adopt best management practices for unsewered developments and subdivisions in Western Australia. To achieve a consistent approach, the existing sewerage policies have been updated and merged into one document, thereby condensing the requirements for metropolitan and regional developments into one State-wide policy.
This policy recognises that connection to reticulated sewerage is not always available to many developments and subdivisions. To achieve long-term, safe and sustainable on-site sewage disposal, unsewered developments and subdivisions must be able to demonstrate the requirements outlined in the policy.
The revised draft Government Sewerage Policy is now available for public stakeholder comment:
Deadline for receiving comments
Your comments should be sent in by no later than 1 April 2012, in order to be considered by the Government Sewerage Policy Review Committee prior to finalising the policy.
How to comment
For consistency and ease of understanding, a template document is available to download and use to provide your comments (see link above). It is strongly encouraged to use this template when returning comments to the Department of Health.
Where to send your comments
Return your comments by either:
Do you have any questions about this review?
Send an email to GSP@health.wa.gov.au, or contact the Water Unit on (08) 9388 4999.
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