Hames Sharley has been appointed by the City of Bayswater to develop a Master Plan that will help create a vibrant and sustainable future city centre for Morley.
Situated approximately 7km north-east of central Perth, Morley is recognised as a Strategic City Centre under the new draft state government policy, “Directions 2031 and Activity Centres Policy”, which outlines how Perth can sustainably accommodate an increasing population and cope with future economic growth that is expected by 2031.
Hames Sharley Managing Director, Paul Drechsler believes the Master Plan presents a challenging but exciting opportunity to create an attractive city centre that will encourage growth and stimulate activity in the Morley area.
“This is a bold initiative of the City of Bayswater and a positive move towards the vision of creating more employment and diversity within an up and coming area,” Mr Drechsler said.
City of Bayswater Mayor, Terry Kenyon said the project will involve extensive council, community and stakeholder engagement to choose and adopt a common vision for the future of the Morley City Centre.
“The Master Plan will facilitate a vibrant and sustainable city centre, making it ideal for families, local businesses and the community, creating a central hub of activity that will embrace many types of lifestyles,” said Mayor Kenyon.
“Taking all aspects of this approach into account, the Master Plan will make an extremely positive contribution to the Morley area and help to sustain it into the future.
“Ultimately, this project will benefit the wider region, as it breathes new life into the area and attracts more people who will, in turn, use local businesses and help to stimulate the local economy.”
Hames Sharley is currently working with Pracsys to review and determine opportunities available within Morley. Following this, a Master Plan visual will be produced to highlight built-form potential and guide future urban design. In particular, it will generate ideas for improving landscaping, traffic-flow on city streets and access to public spaces to help build a community-friendly city centre. The Master Plan is expected to be completed by mid-2010.
Hames Sharley is an award-winning firm with more than 30 years’ experience in urban design and planning. It has delivered some of Western Australia’s iconic urban design projects including Subiaco Square, Bentley Technology Precinct, Barrack Square, Joondalup City Centre, and Mandurah Cultural Centre. Currently, the firm is working on the upcoming Albany and Geraldton Foreshore Redevelopments and is involved with the proposed expansion of the Dampier Townsite.