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):
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
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