Cr Ian Johnson wants to give the local planning scheme more teeth.
Camera IconCr Ian Johnson wants to give the local planning scheme more teeth. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Two-storey height limit urged

Joel KellyHills Avon Valley Gazette

He said the height limit was the first step in protecting the historic fabric of Guildford – one of three towns established during the founding of the Swan River Colony in 1829.

He asked City of Swan staff to prepare a report on a proposed amendment to the City’s overarching planning guidelines to limit the height of new buildings to two storeys or a comparable height.

Councillors voted to support initiating the report.

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The local planning scheme has measures to protect the cultural significance of Guildford but Cr Johnson said the approval of the five-storey apartment building at the back of the Guildford Hotel was evidence of policy failure.

“Guildford’s growing heritage tourism economy and its contribution to the City of Swan’s economy is under threat from property developers,” he said.

“The Planning Minister recently overruled this council’s two-storey decision for the proposed development and proposed his own five-storey development that neither the council, local people nor the developer wanted.”

Recently, a development assessment panel rejected a four-storey residential development next to the Padbury Building on Terrace Road, while the City knocked back the three-storey redevelopment proposal.

Cr Johnson said the height limit was in line with the existing conservation policy, but adding it to the local planning scheme gave it “more teeth”.