Local business owners (from left) Tuyen Tran, Dau Tran, Vivian Tran, Marie Lowick, Zerlina Nguyen, Serena Tran, Keith Jacob and Tri Le.
Camera IconLocal business owners (from left) Tuyen Tran, Dau Tran, Vivian Tran, Marie Lowick, Zerlina Nguyen, Serena Tran, Keith Jacob and Tri Le. Credit: Supplied/Marcus Whisson

City of Stirling considering approving four-storey office in Mirrabooka despite parking shortfall

Tom Rabe, Stirling TimesStirling Times

The approval hinges on a reciprocal Deed of Easement, which gives each business owner non-exclusive use of each other’s car bays.

But Tuyen Tran, who owns the land and building used by Xtreme Ice Arena, said the reciprocity of the agreement was one-sided. It allowed the new business to use a third of the current businesses’ car bays but not allow them any.

‘There are only enough car bays for our customers to use; if you take away the 66 bays, where will the customers park?’ Mr Tran said.

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‘The City’s actions only benefit one individual from the sacrifices of others.’

A development application for the office building on Chesterfield Avenue was lodged at the City of Stirling in June, 2013, relying on the Deed of Easement on the 66 current business car parks.

The application was recommended for council approval, providing the existing business and landowners agreed to car parking arrangements.

City of Stirling planning and development director Ross Povey said no public consultation was required because the building was an office, which the City’s local planning scheme four permitted.

He said the City’s local planning scheme three also contained a provision to allow reciprocal parking in the Mirrabooka Town Centre.

But the City refused the application when the current land and business owners refused to adhere to the parking arrangement and a council officer highlighted the potential parking shortfall.

The owner subsequently sought a State Administrative Tribunal review, which recommended the City reconsider its refusal of the application.

The council was told it would cost $30,000 to reject the SAT recommendation and proceed to a full hearing.

It is expected to make a decision on the development application tonight.

Mirrabooka MLA Janine Freeman said she was concerned that after constant town planning consultation over the Mirrabooka revitalisation, Stirling officers had ‘failed’ in the basics of consultation.

‘It seems to me that City of Stirling processes, by not consulting the other strata owners before approving the development, has left two owners feeling one owner has done all the taking, leaving them feeling disadvantaged and concerned for the future of their businesses,’ she said.

Mr Tran, a former South Vietnamese Army Captain and Vietnam veteran, likened the process to the heavy-handed and one-eyed tactics of the communist regime he escaped.

‘Only communists plan to confiscate and rob innocent people, while in Australia our private property rights have always been respected and protected,’ he said.