FENCE heights and materials in Inglewood and Mt Lawley caused a stir at last week’s City of Stirling council meeting.
It was eventually agreed that Colorbond and Timberlap was permitted on the side boundaries only to a maximum height of 1200mm and the colour of the fence was to be in strict accord with the house.
A report by Stirling last year suggested permitting Timberlap and Colorbond for fences within the Mt Lawley and Inglewood Heritage Protection Areas and increasing the height in the Inglewood Heritage Protection Area.
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READ NOWDebate over the materials and heights broke out between councillors at the February 6 meeting when it came to making changes to the Local Planning Policy 3.1 Character Retention Guidelines Mt Lawley, Menora and Inglewood.
Councillor Adam Spagnolo said the proposed 1200mm Colorbond fencing in Inglewood “spoilt the character” while Cr Joe Ferrante said he lived in the area and “a lot of people want to live in that area because of those (existing) guidelines”.
Cr Bianca Sandri’s motion to make different fencing requirements for Inglewood and Mt Lawley was passed but not before debate over whether the height should be 750mm or 1200mm.
Cr Suzanne Migdale said that even though Mt Lawley and Inglewood abutted each other, they were “very different suburbs and need to be considered individually”.
Planning and development director Ross Povey warned that if different requirements were introduced for each suburb, then unauthorised Colorbond and/or 1200mm fences would require retrospective approval.
Cr Sandri said she appreciated other ward councillors’ views but believed 750mm was a “mediocre outcome”.
“We need to move with the times here,’ she said.
Cr Elizabeth Re moved an amendment to make the height 750mm but it was lost.
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