This time we welcomed the Mayor of the Town of Cambridge, Gary Mack, to our meeting, and he told us about town planning with particular reference to urban infill. This is very topical In WA right now because of the escalating cost of housing coupled with the huge demand – our population has grown by over 3% in the year to September 2023 and now stands at just under 3 million people. There are 4 issues affecting the situation: labour shortages – young people are not interested in the industry; material shortages – Covid disrupted supply chains; complex building processes – we use wet & dry methods as opposed to overseas’ pre-fab approach; and land availability – which is clearly limited. The Perth metro area is now about 150 km long and up to 50 km wide, and town planning is all about allocating land for specific purposes. However, the old grid plan has been abandoned and everything is now based on the Japanese model i.e. “top down”. It all starts with zoning so that local planning now relates to what can happen in the zones. Unfortunately, the great Australian dream of families having a quarter of an acre in leafy suburbs is no longer sustainable, and infill actions are now increasing the density in certain locations e.g. at the Floreat Forum and the Ocean Village in City Beach. The problem in WA is that the Planning Commission (an appointed rather than elected body) makes the decisions even if it means over-riding the Minister. As a result, the Minister has handed over the decision making to that body.