Corridor Plan for Perth

The Corridor Plan included a number of key predictions and recommendations as follows:

• Employment in the central business district to be limited to 120,000 jobs
• Large areas of open space to be located between the corridors
• The development of the sub-regional centres of Armadale, Joondalup, Whitfords, Rockingham and Midland
• A comprehensive, high-speed bus service to provide public transport to the region, including bus lanes in existing railway reserves converging on the CBD
• Suburban train facilities to be progressively suspended between Perth and Midland, Armadale and Fremantle
• That water resources and their management be recognised as major determinant in the sustainable development of the metropolitan region

Academic Dave Hedgecock describes the 1960s as a time when academic and professional consensus around metropolitan planning began to collapse.^[6] The Corridor Plan represented a paradigm shift away from “planning by design” to “planning by science”^[7] and never achieved the level of support and political consensus enjoyed by the earlier Stephenson-Hepburn plan. It remained controversial through its preparation and period of operation.

Inherited by the incoming Labor government, the plan was not initially supported by the Minister for Development and Decentralisation Herb Graham who sought an additional corridor in the north-east.^[8]

The state government appointed Paul Ritter to provide comment on the plan. The opposition challenged this appointment on the grounds that Ritter‘s views were already known and that he could not undertake an independent review. Ultimately, Ritter’s report was critical, and proposed an alternative urban form that focussed growth around the existing city centre, facilitated private vehicle access (a “drive-up-to city”) and rejected the development of sub-regional centres.^[9] Ritter’s proposals were not taken seriously by the media or the state government.

Simultaneously, an Honorary Royal Commission into the plan was initiated by the Legislative Council in 1971. The purpose of the commission was to enquire into and report on the preparation of the Corridor Plan. The Commission completed its investigation in 1972. The commission concluded that the corridor planning concept was sound in principle, but identified a number of deficiencies in the report presentation and proposed implementation. The findings of the commission did not lead to a formal review of the plan, and the MRPA published its own report defending the Corridor Plan against criticism.

Passenger services on the Fremantle line were suspended on 1 September 1979, in line with the recommendations of the Corridor Plan. The closure led to a public backlash and the service was reinstated on 29 July 1983 following a change of government.

A review of the Corridor Plan commenced in 1985 due to deficiencies in the population projections which had anticipated a metropolitan population of 1.4 million by 1989--approximately 250,000 short of the actual numbers. The Corridor Plan also incorrectly identified sub-regional centres as the primary source of non-CBD based employment growth, when in reality most employment growth occurred in the inner City suburbs around the central area.^[4]