Online Lodgement and Forms
The City's Planning Services provides information and guidelines for development applications for residents, developers, builders and planners.
Planning controls
Planning controls for land use and development are identified through Local Planning Schemes. A Scheme is prepared and administered by a local government and is required to conform to the State Government's regional planning scheme for the area (i.e. the Perth Metropolitan Region Scheme).
Along with the Local Planning Scheme No. 42 (LPS42), there are a number of other planning documents operative throughout the City:
Table 3 – Zoning Table of LPS42 notes which land uses are allowed in different zones, please refer to IntraMaps to identify the zoning of a property. Please also refer to IntraMaps together with the standards in Table 1 of the Residential Design Codes to determine whether a lot is large enough to be subdivided.
Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015
The Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015 have removed the requirement for development approval in regards to some forms of residential development complying with all relevant planning requirements.
The forms of development which may be exempt from Development Approval include:
- construction of a single house (new or additions) expect where located in Aircraft Noise Contours
- construction of an ancillary dwelling (associated with a single house)
- construction of an outbuilding, patio, pergola, front fence, or carport.
Exemption from Development Approval applies only where the development is fully compliant with the Residential Design Codes or those ‘Deemed-to-Comply' requirements of the R-Codes that are varied by the City’s Local Planning Policies (please refer to the Resources section).
Residential Design Codes (R-Codes)
State Planning Policy 3.7 – Residential Design Codes (R-Codes) control the design of most residential development in Western Australia. While the R-Codes are prepared by the State, the City is required to apply the provisions when considering development proposals. The code has two volumes:
- Volume 1 applies to Single and Grouped dwelling developments.
- Volume 2 applies to most multiple dwelling (apartment) developments (R40 and above).
The City's Local Planning Policies cover aspects of the R-Codes where greater variation is supported.
Changes to the R-Codes 2023
On 9 August 2023, the Minister for Planning announced that the gazettal of the new R-Codes (2023) will be deferred. Further updates will be available on the Department of Planning Lands and Heritage website.
Until a new gazettal date is announced, the current version of the R-Codes (2021) will remain in place. The City’s officers had directed customers with applications submitted after 1 August 2023 to design to the new codes. This is no longer required. Until further notice, applications for development approval must be designed to the 2021 R-Codes.
Archival Search for Planning Records
Planning records held by the City are available to the owner of any property in the City of Canning. These records consist of any available Development Approvals (DA’s) plans and documents for the property in question. If you require copies of any Building approvals (not Planning), please see the Building Services page for more information. Copies of plans acquired from a Planning or Building Archive Search are not to be submitted for the purposes of making an application. Archive plans are only to be used as a guide for the making of new plans.
To apply for an Archival Search for Planning Records, please complete an online enquiry.
The City will make every effort to obtain copies of the planning records within 20 working days, however if plans are not available or are not legible the cost of the Archiving Search will not be refunded. Please refer to the Planning Fees Schedule for a list of our current fees for this service. All fees are due before the search is carried out, we will notify you of how to make payment once your application has been lodged.
General enquiries
The City provides appointment-based over the counter customer service for general planning queries. Customers can make 15 minute appointments between 12pm and 4.30pm, Monday – Friday. When making an appointment please provide staff with:
- your name and contact number
- the address of the property you are wanting to discuss
- a short description of what the appointment is about.
To make an appointment please contact the City on 1300 422 664.
The City also offers the two methods for receiving a written response to a planning query. For simple enquiries of a general nature you can send us an online enquiry. Alternatively, for more complex planning enquiries you can submit a request for written planning advice by logging into your My Canning online portal. If you would rather speak to us over the phone you can call and leave a message for one of our duty planners to call you back. We will endeavour to respond to phone messages within two working days.
Online lodgement and fees
The City provides an online lodgement system for Planning applications. For further information and to register for this service, please Application Lodgement and Tracking page.
If you wish to calculate your development application fee(s) prior to lodging, please use the Planning Fees Calculator.
Is planning approval required?
View our information sheet to learn more about when planning approval is required.
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