High-rise worries

Last month, the Times reported on a four-storey proposed development on Kitchener Road in Alfred Cove and has since been notified of another five-storey proposal at Canning Highway and Groves Avenue in Attadale, and another three-storey development in Queens Road, Mt Pleasant.

Groves Avenue resident Robert Palmer said he was one of dozens of residents who opposed the proposed five-storey development on Canning Highway with offices on the ground floor and 44 units.

The proposal went to DAP in February but was deferred as the DAP needed more information from the developer, Gavin Construction.

Mr Palmer said traffic and parking, size and the bulk of the development were some of the biggest concerns from local residents.

‘It appears that the DAP’s were set up to bypass council and community consultation. It is most concerning that the community is being disempowered when it comes to having input into decisions that directly affect them,’ he said.

‘We chose to live in this area because it was not high density, but if these types of developments are going to be forced on us we will have little option other than to move from the area that we have lived in for 44 years.’

Mr Palmer has urged the community to get together and make their voices heard before it was too late.

A representative from the Kitchener Road development, Geoff Pearson said if the proposal was approved, it would have an enormous impact on traffic in the neighbourhood.

‘When the street-parking begins, as it surely will with such a huge influx of people, anyone who lives in the area and has to use Kitchener Road will be affected.

City of Melville chief executive Shayne Silcox said it was currently in the process of negotiating details of the proposed Kitchener Road development with the applicant.

‘No date has been scheduled and no recommendation has been formulated at this time,’ he said.

He said the Queens Road development application was due to be considered by the DAP.