Riverfront Masterplan

Perth’s riverfront is underutilised and its potential as a world class destination has not been fully realised, despite development of over 200 masterplans for the area since 1883. 

The Local Planning Strategy for our capital city includes the aspiration to grow our residential population to 55,000 residents by 2036 and 90,000 residents by 2050. 

The Local Planning Strategy for our capital city identifies the need to develop a plan for the riverfront - to enhance and broaden its current use and to plan for the demands of a growing city population. This planning strategy was endorsed by the Western Australian Planning Commission in May 2023.

The Masterplan will provide a vision for our riverfront area to guide the City’s future planning and budgeting for components of the plan the City is able to fund and deliver on its own. 

The Masterplan will also be used to advocate for future funding and involvement by other parties, including other levels of government and the private sector. 

The Masterplan will also give investors and residents confidence the City of Perth is looking to the future needs/amenity of its residents and visitors.

In March 2020 the City undertook extensive community engagement via a survey and a place mapping tool on Engage Perth. A total of 842 submissions were received. 

Following on from the results of this survey, the City held an interactive workshop with key stakeholders and a workshop with the City’s Elders Advisory group in August 2020. 

The aim of all this consultation was to understand the key themes and opportunities that are important to stakeholders when considering the future planning for Perth’s riverfront.

Numerous technical and other studies have also previously been undertaken that relate to the riverfront area. These include:

• Perth’s Riverfront 2020 Background and Analysis (2020)
• Riverfront Cultural Heritage Assessment Report, Terra Rosa (March 2020)
• Perth Riverfront Public Life Study (June 2019)
• Riverside Drive Feasibility Study and Concept Design, WSP (September 2018)
• Riverside Drive Riverwalls Scoping and Opportunities Study, MP Rogers and Associates (July 2018)
• Take me to the river: The Story of Perth’s Foreshore (2015)
• Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity Study (2017)
• Open Space Study (2018)
• Climate Change Adaption Plan (2018)
• Foreshore Flood Risk Mapping and Assessment (2019)
• Shaping a Water Sensitive City (draft report 2019)
• Traffic modelling
• Geotechnical investigation

The previous technical studies are largely still relevant, and the key themes/issues raised during previous consultation and key stakeholder engagement provided good background, upon which the project team and consultants were able to build upon. 

Consultants (Hassell) were engaged in November 2023, via a competitive process, to progress the Masterplan project.

The project team engaged with a range of State Government stakeholders in early 2024 and a workshop was held with the technical staff and the Executive Leadership Team from the City of Perth in late January 2024. 

All this previous work and engagement helped inform development of four concept options for development of the riverfront.

These options were presented to the City’s Elected Members at an Elected Member Engagement Session in April 2024. Elected Members generally agreed a preference for a specific option, subject to certain changes.

A refined option was tested with State Government stakeholders and presented back to Elected Members at an engagement session in June 2024. This option formed the basis of the Masterplan that was presented to the Council on 27 August 2024.

The City of Perth Council endorsed the Masterplan for the purposes of community consultation at its meeting on 27 August 2024. This paves the way for a formal consultation process with all stakeholders and the community, which is intended to commence later in 2024.

Given the significance of the project and the interest it may draw from well beyond the City of Perth boundaries, community consultation on the Masterplan needs to well planned, authentic, and extensive. 

The City is currently in the process of procuring a community engagement consultant to assist with the formal consultation process. This consultant will work with the City on finalising a Community Engagement Strategy, which will outline the various methods of engaging with the community and stakeholders. 

Comments and suggestions from the community will not be captured until the formal consultation process commences, so anyone interested in having a say or sharing their views on the Masterplan are encouraged to register their interest in being kept updated on this project. When the formal consultation process commences, you’ll receive an email from the project team. We’re looking forward to your involvement in this exciting project.

Once the community and other stakeholders have provided feedback on the Masterplan, all submissions will be collated and reported back to the Council, along with a final Masterplan for Council’s consideration.

We’re at the very start of the process. 

Once we have a final Masterplan endorsed by Council (following community consultation), the staging and timing of delivery of individual components will be considered and the elements the City is able to deliver on its own will be factored into our Long-Term Financial Plan. 

More detailed technical studies and detailed design will then need to occur on individual components before they can be delivered. 

It is unlikely that actual construction of key components of the plan will occur within the next couple of years. 

Timing of components the City is unable to deliver alone will depend on availability of funding from other sources.

The Masterplan for the riverfront is a long-term vision and will be delivered over many years.