Premier Mark McGowan wants Swan Valley ‘uniqueness’ retained amid proposed church ban

Premier Mark McGowan says the Swan Valley’s uniqueness should be retained and it was not unusual for local governments to change their planning scheme as the City of Swan tries to put a halt on religious buildings being built in its wine region.

The council will vote on Wednesday on whether to start the process of changing its planning scheme to stop places of worship and roadhouses from being built in a special zone of the Swan Valley.

Mr McGowan said he wasn’t across the issue but having businesses sell local produce in the valley was of great importance to retaining its “uniqueness”.

“The Swan Valley is very special, it’s the only place of its nature anywhere in Australia and one of the only places in the world you can go to a beautiful winery district 20km from the capital city,” he said.

“We want to retain its uniqueness and use it as a tourism attraction.

“In relation to churches and what have you, they (local governments) have planning schemes as to where things are built ... there’s planning schemes and the like that determine where things are built, that’s not unusual and that’s what councils do.”