Development Assessment Panel areas
There are three Development Assessment Panels that cover all local government districts across Western Australia, except Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The geographical area and related local government districts of each DAP are described below.
- Metro Inner
- Metro Outer
- Regional
Metro Inner DAP
The Metro Inner DAP includes the 19 local government areas that comprise the inner region of the Perth metropolitan area. This area has a diverse range of development in established areas from the central CBD, high-density apartments, industrial estates, town centres, to single houses. The majority of developments is made up of infill development.
The area covered by the Metro Inner DAP is shown on map below:
Metro Outer DAP
The Metro Outer DAP includes the 14 local government areas that comprise the outer region of the Perth metropolitan area. This area has a mix of locations that represent some of the fastest growing areas of the metropolitan area. Many developments in these areas relate to services and amenities to service the growing populations.
The area covered by the Metro Outer DAP is shown on map below:
Regional DAP
The Regional DAP area includes 104 local government areas and is as diverse as it is large with locations varying from significant regional cities with urban environments, to small, remote communities and largely unpopulated expanses. As a result developments that may be considered by the Regional DAP could vary from central city or town urban developments, to large infrastructure projects related to the resource sector or growing renewable energy sector.
The area covered by the Regional DAP is shown on map below:
Development Assessment Panel Members
Each DAP meeting is constituted by up to five DAP Members comprising three Specialist Members and two Local Government Members. Specialist Members can be either Regular Specialist Members or Sessional Specialist Members.
The scope, purpose and role of these categories are as follows:
Specialist Members
Specialist Members are experienced professionals with expertise in the range of fields prescribed by the DAP Regulations. Any Specialist Member can be designated to act as the Presiding Member or Deputy Presiding Member at a meeting. The designated Presiding Member is to preside at the DAP meeting in accordance with the standing orders, code of conduct and procedures, as well as applying their professional urban and regional planning expertise to ensure objective, appropriate, and valid planning decisions are made. The Presiding Member also confirms DAP meeting minutes.
Specialist members can be engaged in two ways:
- Regular Specialist Members – These are Specialist Members who are experienced and qualified urban and regional planning professionals whose sole employment will be as a DAP member, unless otherwise approved by the Minister for Planning. They operate as a bespoke pool with at least one needing to be designated to each DAP meeting.
- Sessional Specialist Members – These are Specialist Members who are experienced professionals with expertise in any of the fields prescribed by the DAP Regulations. They operate as a pool and will be designated to each DAP meeting, as required to ensure a quorum is available for each DAP meeting and/or where specific expertise may be required for decision making on the relevant agenda items.
Local Government Members
These are local government councillors who bring local knowledge and insights of the local community, as well as any relevant expertise, to the assessment of development proposals. Local Government Members are appointed from the Local Government Member register to the relevant DAP for their local government area. Each local government can nominate two members and two alternative members.
A quorum constitutes any three DAP members of which one must be the Presiding Member.
The details of the current DAP members are in the below documents.