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.

The plan we agreed on for Old Swanbourne Hospital in 2004 and 2005

We argued, talked, compromised and agreed on a plan

Over a 3 year period starting in late 2003 and concluding in early 2005, the WA Government conducted an extensive and well run process of consultation with the residents of Mount Claremont and other interested parties through the Department of Housing and Works. The objective of the consultation was to identify the best possible use for the Old Swanbourne Hospital Conservation Area, which had lain dormant since 1987 and the subsequent  subdivision and sale of the surrounding land as the new suburb of Mount Claremont during the 1990's.

You will find a lot of material about this consultation process now stored in the National Archives including minutes of the meetings of the Working Group overseeing the community consultation, which was facilitated by Mr John Savell  from the Department and  comprising the Mayor of the City of Nedlands (who was then Laurie Taylor),  Nikola Horley (Councillor - City of Nedlands), Mr John Peirce (Local Resident), Frank Pitman (Department of Housing and Works), Daniel Arndt (City of Nedlands), Mr Bill Burrell (from the planning firm Taylor Burrell Barnett), Sally Birkhead (Taylor Burrell Barnett) and Lara Watson from the Heritage Council of WA.  

There were many meetings with residents and submissions received from other members of the public exploring uses for the Heritage Buildings, and in the end, through much compromise on all sides, the community agreed on the redevelopment guidelines for the site, prepared in consultation with the Heritage Council of WA. 

The property was then put up for sale through a tender process, subject to these redevelopment plans. The WA Department of Housing and Works reported in 2005 on its website that the WA Government had agreed to the sale for $6.65 million to Sealcrest Pty Ltd as Trustee for the Swanbourne Development Joint Venture, saying  that:

"All of the on-site buildings have heritage significance, requiring Sealcrest Pty Ltd to comply with specific uses nominated for each of the buildings.  The company will also have to meet the redevelopment guidelines which were prepared in consultation with the Heritage Council of WA."

The outcome of this process was the development of an agreed Outline Development Plan for the site, which was again reviewed by the Heritage Council of WA and subsequently incorporated into the City of Nedlands Town Planning Scheme.  I have copied a section of the Plan above - and you can download the full document from here .

The plan provides for the development of single houses and 28 apartments and provides ample scope for profitable development.

Why does the Heritage Council of WA now seek for the Town Planning Scheme to be suspended and planning control of the site transferred to the WA Planning Commission?  We agreed with the WA Government on a plan in 2005.  

Let's just get on with the development and preservation of the property as agreed.

Please write your letter to the Heritage Council of WA rejecting their proposal by 18 February.

David Thomas