Carine residents upset two-storey nursing home gets DAP approval

Carine Action Group members spoke at the JDAP meeting about their concerns regarding tree retention and visitor parking at the $40 million facility on Silica Road proposed by planners Roberts Day.

The members pushed for visitor access in the controlled parking area, originally designated for staff, seven days a week during business hours, as well as saving nine mature-aged trees.

The facility will now have 145 beds for residents instead of the initial 120 beds.

Silver Thomas Hanley director Tony Di Leo made a presentation on behalf of the applicants and agreed to change the parking circumstances but said that only two trees could be retained.

Three JDAP members voted to approve the application, subject to conditions, while City of Stirling Mayor Giovanni Italiano and councillor David Boothman voted against the motion.

Carine Action Group’s Lindsay Broadhurst said if the City sought community consultation when the Carine Vision Local Structure Plan was first developed in 2012, the application could have avoided going to JDAP.

“We are not opposed or unsatisfied with the JDAP process necessarily, more that the approval of the detailed area plan by the City of Stirling is what has thrown the residents under the bus,” he said.

“There was not any proper consultation, council staff did not give any due consideration to the concerns that were raised by the residents in the 2012 structure plan.”

Mr Broadhurst said residents did not have any opportunity to comment on the detailed area plan for the aged care facility.

“JDAP probably did the right thing at the last meeting to defer the decision, so they have come back and said they would save two trees but we think they could have easily saved more by adjusting their developments,” he said.

“The approach City of Stirling staff have taken to the whole process…we feel very let down.”

He said the action group planned to call on the City to do more landscaping on the other side of Silica Road.

Cr Italiano said he did not support the application as there should have been more community consultation.