Town of Victoria Park against $26.7m Carlisle residential tower development

An inner-city council has condemned plans for a $26.7 million development in Carlisle.

The proposed development — slammed as having a “poor design” — has been put forward by Rowe Group and would be built at 167 and 169 Bank Street, metres from Oats Street station.

If approved, it would have a 16-storey tower, 85 dwellings and a ground floor tenancy.

The Town of Victoria Park council has now voted to tell the WA Planning Commission it does not support the development application.

According to a staff report, the site currently prohibits the development of multiple dwellings and the town’s local planning policy allows a maximum height of two storeys.

Town staff are also concerned the development would “prejudice” the area’s future character and could place a “greater financial burden” on the town to upgrade its public infrastructure.

“I do think that we urgently need more ... affordable housing that is close to transport,” Cr Sky Croeser said at last week’s council meeting.

“But the recommendation that we’ve had from the staff has highlighted very serious concerns around this application, including around stormwater drainage, around bicycle storage and around ventilation and airflow within the apartments.

“I feel like it’s very important that we think about ensuring that people have access to affordable housing or accessible housing that meets the accessibility criteria, which is uncertain.

“(It’s also important to have housing that) is affordable to live in and not just to buy or rent ... if you’re having to spend a bunch of money to heat or cool your house because it is not designed in an energy efficient way, that is not going to be affordable to live in.”

The application will now be considered by the State Development Assessment Unit.

The council also passed an amendment from Cr Peter Devereux that if the SDAU approve the development, the site will have at least 85 bicycle bays and reduce the number of car parking bays, given the site’s proximity to public transport.

“Vehicle parking can be minimised to encourage mode shift in line with the town’s Integrated Transport Strategy,” Cr Devereux said.

“The Metronet precinct guidelines for sustainability require that parking is considered holistically within sites and station precincts to ensure the development of a walkable urban form.”

According to Rowe Group, the development would deliver a “significant ongoing benefit” to the WA economy, with 90 full-time construction jobs, housing for 136 residents and up to $34 million over the construction phase.

“The proposed development will deliver one of the first high-density developments surrounding the Metronet stations, thereby providing an example of high-quality, transit-oriented development in proximity to established retail, hospitality and community facilities which delivers the critical mass needed to support the State’s Metronet vision,” the application said.