VINCENT councillors have rejected a request for an inner-city heritage property to become short-stay accommodation for a second time.
The council refused the application for the Moir Street property in Perth in October last year, but it came back to the table on Tuesday night after the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) determined it should be reconsidered.
The applicant can appeal again to the SAT.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOWSeveral neighbours attended the council meeting to express their displeasure over the application, calling the owner’s arguments about heritage tourism “a furphy” and saying they were concerned about noise, safety and parking, and the host not being on-site.
A family member of the owner and another speaker who presented on behalf of the owner said many complaints were conjecture, there were monitoring systems in place and that long-term tenants were not always a better outcome than short-stay visitors.
Mayor Emma Cole said the context for short-stay accommodation like Airbnb was “incredibly important”.
“This is an intact residential neighbourhood in Northbridge,” she said.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate.
“I don’t have any interest in demonising the applicant.
“In this context, I’m saying it’s not an appropriate application for short term accommodation.”
The state heritage-listed Brookman and Moir Streets Precinct won a UNESCO Asia Pacific Award for Heritage Conservation in 2017, with the century-old workers’ cottages recognised for their restoration and conservation of the streetscape.