Owner Rick Indrisie, who told the Gazette he could not comment until he returned to the country early this month, wants to demolish a 1936 brick and tile ‘original dwelling’ at 11 Hampton Street but the Town refused the plan on the grounds he failed to provide justification for its demolition.
An officer’s report to council said the owner failed to provide a structural report demonstrating the house was unsound, or details of a replacement house, so it should be refused.
Mr Indrisie gave council a report from a registered builder that said the house was in such a dilapidated state that it was structurally unsound but as this opinion was not provided by a practising structural engineer, it was rejected.
A site inspection by council officers revealed that while it required some repairs and maintenance, it did not appear to be in a state of disrepair or in need of demolition.
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The only exception for demolition of an ‘original dwelling’ was if it was structurally unsound or wholly clad in fibro or asbestos wall cladding.
The home is one of four original dwellings adjoining each other on Hampton Street. Its demolition would see the Burswood area lose an example of the kind of housing that was predominant at the time of the area’s development.