THE City of Vincent has approved a land swap with Aranmore Catholic Primary School.
Councillors unanimously agreed on Tuesday night for the City to enter into a contract with McAuley Property Limited to swap land on Brentham Street, Leederville.
Mayor Emma Cole said the deal would make boundaries much clearer and show where public and private land exists.
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READ NOWA staff report said the exchange would improve connectivity between Brentham Street and the portion of Brentham Street Reserve adjacent to the school, as access would no longer be by a gate within a carpark or via a laneway.
One resident spoke on behalf of her 95-year-old mother, a neighbouring Rosewood Aged Care resident, calling on the council to reject the deal and instead pave the walkway between Rosewood and the school.
“Since she’s been there, we’ve been unable to talk her for a walk because of a lack of paving,” she said.
“It’s not a simple walk for the mobility-challenged.”
Ms Cole said representatives from both sides had met with Rosewood and reached an agreement, and that the City had a potential pathway upgrade for Brentham Reserve in the budget.
Sister Eileen Daffy, representing the landowners Sisters of Mercy, agreed on the resident’s walkway comments, saying she had watched an elderly person with a walker navigate the “dangerous pathway”.
She said the portion of the Rosewood that would abut the school following the deal would be a “positive connector”, and associated group Mercy Care ran a number of aged care homes across Australia, including in Craigie and Lesmurdie, with abutting educational facilities.
“We do not see difficulties,” she said.
Cr Joshua Topelberg said the deal had raised some good lessons for the City and that it was an “oversight” that Rosewood was not originally involved in the conversation.
Three out of four submissions made via an engagement survey supported the swap, and two local residents made submissions in March questioning it, both writing that it looked “like a done deal”.
City staff noted that there had been an exemption, with no consultation required, but wrote in their report that the City had still “undertaken an extensive community consultation process”.
The process will take six to 18 months to be finalised.