East Perth development proposal to be amended after councillor disputes claims in motion

A PROPOSED East Perth development was sent back to the City of Perth’s planning committee after a councillor disputed claims made in a motion recommending refusal.

Councillor Jemma Green told the November council meeting the information in the report “(had) a number of factual errors” about a development proposed for 43 Arden Street.

“The proposal complies with the regulations. There are no design guidelines for the site, and there are a number of examples in the surrounding area of buildings that are no different to the proposal,” she said.

Cr Green said she was unable to discern the reason why the application from Ionic Property Group should be denied.

“There is a lot of information missing from this, for example, the applicant provided pictures to the administration that were not furnished to elected member. We were given those directly by the applicant.”

Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi asked Cr Green to clarify the errors.

Cr Green said the assertion in the report the application was not consistent with other buildings in the area was not correct.

“I was able to identify a number of instances where this application is virtually identical to a number of buildings in the area both in terms of height and set backs, and plot ratio as well,” she said.

The City’s development approvals manager Margaret Smith told councillors that while “it is true the only specific design standards that apply to the property are plot ratio and land use admissibility”, there are other relevant guidelines.

“Where the Local Planning Scheme number 26 is silent… the City planning scheme design guidelines must be taken into consideration,” she said.

Ms Smith raised points about the need for developments to be articulated to “break up perceived bulk” and designed to ensure appropriate supply of natural light.

While she expressed a wish for the council to approve the proposal at the meeting, it was sent back to the planning committee via a procedural motion for further consideration.

The 204sq m subject lot, owned by Silvertop Nominees Pty Ltd, is in the ‘Constitution Street’ Precinct of East Perth and home to a three-storey residence that fronts to Arden Street and backs to a rear laneway.

A City spokeswoman said the photos in question “were not formally submitted to the City as part of the Development Application, therefore they were not included in the council meeting Agenda or Minutes”.

“It is understood the photos circulated at the planning committee meeting were sourced from Google Maps, which is publically available,” she told the Guardian Express.