The "Whole Perth Hills Vision"

View the latest draft of 'The Whole Vision Statement'
Prefer a B&W version then click here

Also view newspaper articles from - The Echo - The Hills Gazette

The Perth Hills have, since first settlement, often been seen as a resource rather than a place of special significance. Logging and agriculture have all modified the environment as has human occupation. Nevertheless nothing has yet managed to diminish the beauty of the area and the sense of place that is very real to its residents and visitors alike. Those residents are as special as the place - living in the Hills requires certain sacrifices. The place is not without its perils and it requires a degree of courage to settle comfortably. Those who love the place will tell you it would take far more courage to leave.

As Perth has grown rapidly from a large country town to an emerging major city, pressure on the Hills to absorb that expansion has increased. The Hills region now stands at a crossroads that will determine its future direction for ever. Suburban townsites in the Hills, planned to absorb Perth's expanding population, are likely forerunners to wholesale urbanisation. Once the bar is lowered developers have a voracious appetite and some very persuasive ways - the stakes for them are high. In other parts of the world areas of beauty, once regarded as completely safe from development, have succumbed to urban sprawl.

Many places have confronted this dilemma and some have made bold changes to secure the quality rather than the quantity of life. Our nearest major city, Adelaide, has done exactly that and determined that the Adelaide Hills are a place of special significance to all South Australians, and an essential ingredient of Adelaide's character. They have implemented a Hills Zone Plan that will secure the future of their Hills through legislation. We believe that now is the time for Perth to do the same and the following is a discussion document that outlines our suggested proposals: