Again - Just before Christmas!

It has been quite a saga.  We saw a surge of activity at the Old Swanbourne Hospital in the middle of the year and then it has been very quiet for several months.

I got curious last week and checked out the Western Australian Planning Commission site.  I typed western+australian+planning+commission+Lot+12040+Mt+Claremont into Google  and the fourth hit I got produced the agenda and attachments for the meeting of WA Planning Commission Statutory Planning Committee meeting held on Tuesday 26 July 2011.  You can download the agenda and minutes from here (be warned - its a 13 MB file) - and the reading is very interesting.

In summary, the WAPC have over ruled resident's wishes about access to the new development and provision of parking from St John's Wood Boulevard by allowing for the possibility  a parking facility to be created on the Public Open Space between Montgomery Hall  and St John's Wood Boulevard.

This is what the WAPC recommendation to the Statutory Planning Commission says (referring to the community feedback provided to the revised outline development plan (see my earlier post):

 It is cute, but technically correct  to say that "Access from St John's Wood Boulevard is not proposed". 

However, the  WAPC officers tell the Committee that "it is proposed that  access to the parking area be provided via the proposed vehicle access point currently shown on the ODP which is marked for service vehicles only.  It is proposed that there would be one access point to the parking area and then branches off to provide access for service vehicles to the Montgomery Hall undercroft area." 

I wonder if the Committee members realised that "the proposed vehicle access point"  is from Abbey Gardens  - which runs off St John's Wood Boulevard - and that therefore the only way for traffic to access the proposed parking on the Public Open Space  is from St John's Wood Boulevard - via Abbey Gardens. 

You can see this in the map below which is from the papers of the Statutory Planning Committee meeting on 26 July 2011.  The comments in reference to the POS on the left hand side of the site have been blanked out in the Committee papers - but this is where the parking is proposed - accessed from Abbey Gardens.

The WAPC Statutory Planning Committee on 26th July, 2011 approved the recommends put to them and summarised above. 

The WAPC then conveyed their decision of the 26th July to the City of Nedlands with exquisite timing management -  in effect leaving the council officers only until 6th December 2011 for a response.  The City of Nedlands administration secured an extension to 14 December  2011, which allows the City of Nedlands Planning Committee to meet and consider the issue on 29th November 2011 - giving just enough time to respond by the 14th December.

Again - just before Christmas - when people are away and minds are distracted!  And in this case, with a new Mayor and Councillors just getting their feet under the desk.

Again, the Administration Staff at the City of Nedlands have been firm and clear in their recommendations to the Council.  In the papers to be considered at the Council meeting on 29 November, the City Administration recommend:

What can you do?

1.  Telephone and email your local councillors and ask them to stand firm in their support of the recommendations from the Council Staff.
 2.  Turn up and speak on the matter at the Council Committee meeting at 7pm on 29th November 2011.  You need to register your intention to speak on Agenda Item D71.11 and you will have a few minutes only to make your point if you are granted permission to speak to the item.  You are just asking Committee Members to support the recommendations of the City Administration and Planning Staff.

If you are not familiar with this story - go back through previous blog posts.  Mt Claremont people have been consistent on this matter since before the current owner bought the Old Swanbourne Hospital.  Access to the site was always to be via Heritage Lane - and this was the set of planning guidelines under which the property was sold to the current owner.

David Thomas

Lets just get on with it!

Isn’t it wonderful to see transparent and accountable local government processes at work! 

During May, starting with a committee meeting on Tuesday 10^th May and then a full council meeting later in May, the City of Nedlands will consider the recommendations regarding the developer’s Outline Development Plan (ODP) for the Old Swanbourne Hospital  (OSH).  Readers may recall that the WA Planning Commission recently approved the developer's revised ODP for advertising by the City in order to obtain public feedback. 

The City has now assessed the submissions made during the recent public consultation period ( 8 March to 29 March). 

It's worthwhile downloading the City’s reports (look under "reports" for the May 2011 link) that will be considered by the City of Nedlands committee and reading them carefully.  Among other information there is a very useful detailed chronology of all the events that have transpired with the Old Swanbourne Hospital over recent years.

If you are short of time here is my summary. 

Profile of Public Submissions

There were 157 submissions, of which the majority of 84 (54%) had no objection to the revised ODP. 

There were a further 10 submissions with no objection subject to various provisos, and a further 58 submissions objecting to the ODP.  Finally there were 5 more submissions expressing various views but neither supporting or objecting .  

You  can see my position in my earlier post .   

The City officers have summarised the public submissions in some detail. 

Concerns or views were expressed about the amount of public open space, the public access and view corridors across the site and the preservation of the heritage buildings, preserving trees on site and height of the development. 

There was also support for some of the community agreed 2005 plan elements such as not allowing access to and across the site by vehicles entering from St John’s Wood Boulevard.

Recommendations to the City of Nedlands

In its response to the submissions, the City officers have made a recommendation that the City approve the ODP subject to conditions that reflect the public input and which also seek to maintain consistency with the City of Nedlands Town Planning Scheme No. 2 (which contains the planning parameters agreed through the 2005 and 2006 community consultation process and endorsed by the Heritage Council of WA). 

I have copied the recommendations in full below.

I think the City officers have done a great job in capturing the views and concerns expressed through the public submissions, and I support the recommendations they have put forward. 

Let’s hope the City Councilors support their officers and continue to maintain the integrity and transparency of the community consultation process conducted prior to the sale of the property to the current owner.

Mt Claremont People want to see the beautiful heritage buildings in the heart of our community used and loved in the way we agreed  – let’s get on with it!

Working with Local Government to develop trust

There was a very good article by Robert Harley in the property pages of the Australian Financial Review on the 31st March this year.  I have copied the first part of it here. 

Discussing the difficulties in obtaining planning approvals for property development in Australia, Harley discusses a 400 page report by the Productivity Commission which has analysed the difficulty developers have in obtaining approvals for projects in Australia.  The Commission quotes research from the World Bank which places Australia at the 10th place globally for the ease of doing business - but 63rd for the ease of gaining construction approvals.

The Productivity Commission report finds that all three levels of government are responsible for the failure of the planning approval process and refers to the problem as objective overload. In other words, too many parties have too much opportunity to object!

Harley states that the key problem is that "Australian planning does not differentiate between those who make the rules and those who implement them". 

So what's the solution?

Harley paraphrases the key Productivity Commission recommendations as follows:

1. States and communities should set the rules. 
2. Applications under the rules should be independently and transparently assessed.
3. Developers then have to stick  to the rules.

As Harley says,  "too often the money is made by bullying approvals".

The Productivity Commission finishes it's findings by recommending that mechanisms should be established that enable early resolution of problems, community engagements, simplified zones, improved assessment criteria, better transparency and accountability.

Harley then concludes by referring to comments made by leading Australian town planner Robert Day at the recent Urban Design Institute of Australia (UDIA) conference.  Day argues that developers and communities could work together.  He says "the art of town founding needs to be rediscovered". 

He refers to successful town planning projects such as the Ellenbrook project in WA and says these "reap the benefits of rapport with local communities, municipalities and local government agencies".

Secretive and opaque planning approval processes have no place in this vision for community engagement.  And too often - particularly in recent times in WA - we have seen developers adopting the approach of making money "by bullying approvals".

The community consultation process before the sale of the Old Swanbourne Hospital resulted in a plan we all agreed to.  I hope the Minister for Heritage rejects any recommendation to transfer planning approval away from our local government - which is trying to keep the development of the site consistent with that plan.

Old Swanbourne Hospital Petition tabled in the WA Parliament

Thank you to each of the 785 people who signed the petition requesting that the Legislative Council of the WA Parliament ask that the WA Minster for Heritage not proceed with the proposal by the Heritage Council of WA to transfer planning control over the Old Swanbourne Hospital to the WA Planning Commission.  I have attached a copy of the WA Parliament Website showing that the petition was the third presented to the Legislative Council this year.

I gave more detail about the content of the petition in an earlier post.

The petition was tabled by Hon Giz Watson on the 17 March 2011 and is now before the Legislative Council's Environment and Public Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Hon Brian Charles Ellis MLC.  The other members of the Committee are shown below.

As I understand it, the WA Parliament is unique in Australian parliaments in having a standing committee whose purpose includes the consideration of petitions.  Sometimes the standing committee will hold hearings into the petitions presented to it if there is a matter of sufficient public interest. 

So now we watch with interest to see if the Minister for Heritage takes note of the petition to the Legislative Council in his consideration of recommendations to him from the Heritage Council of WA on this matter.

We are also waiting for two other outcomes:

1. The decision of the Minister for Heritage after he has received advice from the Heritage Council of WA on the public submissions made in response to the rushed proposal to remove the City of Nedlands from planning control over the Old Swanbourne Hospital.

2.  The City of Nedlands to consider the public submissions made in response to the advertising period for the revised Outline Development plan released a few weeks ago for public comment.

Once again thank you to all who signed the petition - and it is very good to see it tabled in our Parliament.  




 

What a curious tale - and cautious support for the OSH Outline Development Plan!

I discovered this sign outside the Old Swanbourne Hospital on a recent walk.  It is on the land designated as public open space around the heritage listed buildings  and was placed by City of Nedlands. 

 The sign advises that the proposed outline development plan is available for inspection online and at the Mount Claremont library and the Administrative Centre.  There was also an open day today (16 March) at the Mt Claremont Community Centre which I hope some Mt Claremont People had time to go to ( I am in Sydney at the moment so wasn't able to attend).

If you go online to the City of Nedlands website, you can download the Outline Development Plan approved by the WA Planning Commission in February 2011 for advertising by the City. 

You can also download some other very interesting documents, including the submission by the City of Nedlands to the Heritage Council of WA - in response the the proposal by the Heritage Council of WA to remove the City of Nedlands from planning control over the Old Swanbourne Hospital site.  The submission is worth a read - it demonstrates clearly that the Heritage Council has pretty flimsy grounds for seeking to transfer planning control to the WA Planning Commission.

Another interesting read is the Council Resolution  in August 2010 approving the owner's proposed Outline Development Plan (ODP) in principle, subject to some amendments that were recommended to bring the  ODP back closer to the community agreed plan developed in 2006. The Council then sought permission from the WA Planning Commission to advertise the ODP for community comment.

You can't help wondering what was going on at the WA Planning Commission between August 2010 and its decision in February 2011 to finally approve the ODP for comment (5 months).  Perhaps the Commission was simply bogged down in it's work and has only just gotten around to considering this matter?

Anyway, Mt Claremont People are being asked for comment on the revised ODP, with submissions due to the City of Nedlands by 5pm on 29th March, 2011.  I made the time tonight to sit down and read through the revised ODP carefully, to make up my own mind.

Let's have a refresher on the plan we all agreed on in 2005 (double click on the image and it will get bigger):

 The 2011 revised ODP approved for advertising by the WA Planning Commission  contains the following plan (the 2010 is a typo - I think it should read 2011):

 You can see that the two plans are now getting closer - which is good news. 

In my post of 8th March, I suggested we needed to watch out for the following things:

Higher buildings than approved (the SAT rejected a tall structure out of context with the heritage buildings)
 

My Comment: It appears that the new buildings will be limited to 10 meters in height from the level of the ground in the central courtyard.  This is less impact than earlier proposals - SO SEEMS ACCEPTABLE.

Less Public Open Space (we wanted maximum public open space) 

My Comment:  The revised plan introduces the concept of "Private Open Space" in the area overlooking John XXIII school - but with public access through it.  I'M NOT SURE - We will need to watch for the devil in the detail here!  Total Public Open Space is 10% of the area which is just adequate. 

Access from St John's Wood Boulevard (we wanted access from Heritage Lane).

My Comment:  The ODP is clear in saying Heritage Lane is to be retained as principle means of access for vehicular access (page 38).  This aspect is critical to residents of St John's Wood Boulevard - so it appears the owner has dropped plans for an entry statement from the Boulevard - great news!  See my post of January 12 2011 .

Gated community (we wanted open access around the heritage buildings)

My Comment:  Again - I am a little bothered by the concept of "Private Open Space".  

Greater plot density (we wanted density similar to the surrounding Mt Claremont subdivision)

My Comment:  It seems that density is now more consistent with the 2005 community agreed plan.

CONCLUSION

My conclusion is that the revised ODP is an acceptable outcome.  However I believe the best outcome is that expressed by the City of Nedlands in their Council Resolution of August 2010, when they approved the owner's draft ODP subject to some amendments, which were designed to bring the plan back closer to the Community Agreed Plan of 2005.  So I have made my submission to the Council supporting their August 2010 Resolution.

This is what I said:

The proposed outline development plan approved for Advertising by the WA Planning Commission on 8th February 2011 is closer to the Taylor Burrell Barnett Plan of 2005 than previous plans submitted by the current owner, and in this respect this is a positive outcome.

However, the Taylor Burrell Barnett Plan of 2005 was developed after a very well run community consultation process
and best reflects the wishes of the Mt Mount Claremont community.

It remains my preference that the concepts developed in this plan, and subsequently incorporated into  the City of Nedlands Town Planning Scheme No. 2
(and specifically  Local Planning Policy:  Old Swanbourne Hospital Conservation Precinct) are implemented.

I urge the City of Nedlands to remain consistent with their Resolution passed by full Council on 24 August 2010, which is copied below, and carried important
amendments which have not been incorporated into the current Outline Development Plan approved for advertising by the WA Planning Commission on 8 February 2011:

Council:
1.    in principle supports the proposed Outline Development
Plan submitted on 21 May 2010 for referral and statutory
advertising only, subject to the following conditions:
a)    changes to the text as shown in the marked up
document    attached    an    Annexure    3    being
incorporated into the document; and
b)    that changes as shown on the plan entitled Outline
Development Plan 706-143 ST1F 06.05.2010.dwg
being incorporated into the document;
2.    refers the marked up document showing changes to the
text and map to the proposal submitted on 21 May 2010 to
the WAPC for consent to advertise; and
3.    refers the proposed ODP City’s marked up document and a
copy of the original to the Heritage Council for information
and comment
            
I also wish to commend the City of Nedlands for seeking to maintain a planning framework for the Old Swanbourne Hospital that is consistent with the principles established during the community consultation during the years 2003 to 2005, not withstanding the delays caused
by the owner's appeal processes in recent years.



Please make sure you get your submission to Council by the closing date of 28th March.

And in the meantime, we could still see the Minister for Heritage accept a recommendation from the Heritage Council of WA to suspend the City of Nedlands planning powers over the Swanbourne Hospital Conservation Precinct and pass them to the WA Planning Commission.  If he made this decision it would over ride the current community consultation process about the revised ODP and planning for the site would be totally in the hands of the bureaucrats of the WA Planning Commission.

So stay alert and keep lobbying your local councilor and Member of Parliament while we wait for the Heritage Council of WA to make it's recommendation to the Minister.

City of Nedlands Outlines the Facts - and another tight deadline!

The residents of Mount Claremont received this letter from the City of Nedlands Mayor  Sheryl Froese a few days ago.

This is the first page:

and this is the second page:

Some readers may remember an earlier post on January 14 when I speculated about a Plan A or Plan B strategy.

Plan A:  Under the Heritage Council of WA's Heritage of Western Australia Act 1990, The Minister transfers planning authority to the Western Australian Planning Commission and the owner agrees on a development strategy with the pubic servants working for the Commission.  No more need for time consuming and frustrating public consultation!   


Or the fallback:

Plan B:  The Western Australian Planning Commission approves the revised ODP, the Nedlands City Council advertises it for comment, and people of Mount Claremont have the opportunity for input.   Nedlands City Council remains the planning authority, under the watchful eye of the Planning Commission.


So - from reading the Mayor's letter, it seems we now see Plan B swinging into action!




Despite being caught in a pincer movement between:


a) the Heritage Council of WA and its proposal to suspend the Town Planning Scheme No 2 as it applies to the Old Swanbourne Hospital on the one hand - 


and 


b) the WA Planning Commission's tactical timing  in approving the advertising of the revised ODP for the Old Swanbourne Hospital on the other hand (just after the public submission period closed for the Heritage Council's proposal) ;


 - the Council is doggedly continuing in it's efforts to preserve the intent and wishes of Mt Claremont people about the development framework that should apply to the Swanbourne Hospital Conservation Area. 


What to do now?


While we wait for the Minister for Heritage to receive recommendations from the Heritage Council of WA following the analysis of the public submissions, please make sure that you have a look at the Outline Development Plan (ODP) for the Old Swanbourne Hospital approved by the WA Planning Commission - which will be advertised for public comment back to the City of Nedlands for only 21 days - from Tuesday 8th March to Tuesday 29th March.


The proposed ODP is available for viewing at the City of Nedlands administrative office at 71 Stirling Highway, Nedlands, at the City's libraries and online at nedlands.wa.gov.au .


In her letter copied above, Mayor Froese warns us that the proposed ODP approved for advertising by the WA Planning Commission contains plans that "are significantly different to the city's proposed development plans" - which are based on the original community consultation.


Look out for:


Higher buildings than approved (the SAT rejected a tall structure out of context with the heritage buildings)
Less Public Open Space (we wanted maximum public open space)
Access from St John's Wood Boulevard (we wanted access from Heritage Lane)
Gated community (we wanted open access around the heritage buildings)
Great plot density (we wanted density similar to the surrounding Mt Claremont subdivision)


After you have had a look at the proposed ODP - make sure that you let City of Nedlands know what your views are by the closing date of 29th March.  


As requested in the Mayor's letter, either write to the City of Nedlands:


The Chief Executive Officer
City of Nedlands
PO Box 9,
Nedlands  WA   6009


or 


ring the City of Nedlands Planning Services on 9273 3500


or 


send an email to:  council@nedlands.wa.gov.au


The City of Nedlands needs your input and support and individual councillors need to know that people are interested and watching this process.  


Over to you.

2 thought provoking letters

 

Two very thought provoking and well written letters in the Subiaco Post on 19 February.  It does seem as though the developers are now resurgent in the Western Suburbs.  

Thank you to all who made submissions by 18th February to the Heritage Council of WA opposing the Council's proposal to ask the Minister for Heritage to suspend the community agreed plan for the Swanbourne Hospital Conservation Area - incorporated into the City of Nedlands Town Planning Scheme Number 2.  

We now wait to get news of the recommendation the Heritage Council makes to the Minister for Heritage after they have reviewed all the submissions they have received.  In the meantime - watch the press, talk to your neighbors, and stay alert!