A PETITION on Facebook is concerned a funeral parlour is planned for a site adjacent to Mandurah Gardens Estate Retirement Village.
Leah O’Connor has more than 400 signatures and claims two lots, including the former Rosella Bird Park, have been partially cleared to make way for a funeral parlour and that the rest of the land is up for sale.
Not only is the land home to several species of birds and wildlife, she claims it is also a barrier for surrounding homes from the hustle and bustle of busy Pinjarra Road.
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READ NOW“Please sign the petition and help us save some of Mandurah’s wildlife while also keeping the neighbourhood beautiful for our friends, family, residents and homeowners in the area,’’ she wrote.
Comments to her post include ‘bird sanctuaries being cooler than funeral parlours’, that it is an important issues and not fair to take something away from Mandurah that had been there for years and that the site added a natural regional feel that divided it from the overwhelming feel of suburbs closer to Perth.
One person said they had lived in the area since before the bird park was built and hoped developers realised they would be building on a natural swamp.
There seems to be some confusion over the site that contains three parcels of land at different stages of planning and development.
Lot 12 on the corner of Old Pinjarra Road and Pinjarra Road is covered by an outline development and zoned urban development-service commercial.
That is where the funeral parlour is planned but a development application for the funeral parlour has yet to be received.
According to City of Mandurah, if a development plan for a funeral parlour or any other development complied with requirements regarding setbacks and parking, it would not need to be advertised.
Lot 10, the former Rosella Bird Park, is zoned tourist and privately owned and no development has been approved.
Last September, council adopted an amendment to the Town Planning Scheme to rezone the lot from tourist to rural residential.
In December, the Environment Protection Authority said the amendment was not environmentally acceptable as it would still allow for subdivision of the land.
The council is still reviewing options.
Lot 601 on the northern side of Old Pinjarra Road is covered by a structure plan and planned for residential development.