City of Vincent to consider plans to demolish 100-year-old heritage listed Guildford Road building

A 100-year-old heritage-listed building could soon be demolished to make way for a social housing development.

The derelict Federation-style property at 40 Guildford Road in Mt Lawley is thought to have been built between 1900 and 1920, but has since been vandalised and is showing signs of deterioration.

The site — described by the WA Heritage Council as “demonstrating the aspirations of the original developers for the neighbourhood” — has been on the City of Vincent’s municipal heritage inventory since 2000.

The inventory provides “statutory protection” for heritage buildings and properties.

Property group Element has applied to remove the property from the inventory so the building can be demolished to make way for social housing and road upgrades.

Officers have recommended the Vincent council remove the property from the inventory, with a decision to be made at next week’s council meeting.

If the council approves the request, Element will not require planning approval to demolish the property.

“The demolition is proposed to facilitate widening of Guildford Road reserve to accommodate future planned major upgrades of the Guildford Road/East Parade intersection and will allow for the ultimate redevelopment of the site in line with priority State Government housing policy catered towards access and housing diversity,” a letter from Element said.

“The progression of these demolition works is an urgent priority and therefore we respectfully request the city’s assistance in progressing this application for development approval as quickly as possible.”

The City of Vincent received the application from Element last July, with the proposal coming to council last October before being deferred until 2024.

“I think it’s well recognised that housing availability and affordability are critical problems for all three levels of government at the moment,” Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage spokesperson Scott McGill said at Tuesday night’s briefing.

“The Mt Lawley site at Guildford Road is part of the Housing Diversity Pipeline program ... of that program we have undertaken a lengthy review of government land holdings, seeking to prioritise residential development in infill locations.

“The reason we’ve done this is because those locations will deliver a stronger economic and social benefit to the state developing them for residential development, including social housing.

“The reason why we’re seeking demolition of the property as soon as possible is it will just provide us some certainty around what is the actual developable area of the site to allow us to remediate the site ready for construction, and also allow us to deliver a better development outcome.”

The project was advertised for community consultation last year.

Of the seven submissions, three were in support, saying the site’s “state of disrepair” which made it a hotspot for antisocial behaviour.

The objectors raised concerns about heritage and a potential loss of vegetation.

The council knocked back a request from Main Roads WA to demolish the building in 2007.