Project a threat to ‘amenity’

The five storey, 4800sq m project was endorsed by a City of Stirling responsible authority (RAR) report despite issues with the proposed height.

The development was deferred by a Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) last month due to issues with boundary wall and storm water drainage.

Local resident Georgia Garratt, who moved into the adjoining property six months ago, said she was particularly concerned with the impact 97 apartments would have on the local area.

"It is going to really affect the local amenity of the area; Selby Street is a busy enough street as it is so the traffic on that will become even more chaotic," Ms Garratt said.

�As residents we are not opposed to development and are aware of the movement towards high density living.

"However, we do not feel that this should come at a cost to the amenity of our properties and we are simply asking that the developers consider the setback and height of the building so that we can all enjoy our properties."

The City's RAR mentioned the height of the building was not in accordance with the mixed use and commercial centres design guidelines, stating it would then assess it on different guidelines.

"The proposed building height is not in accordance with the above (mixed use and commercial centres design guidelines) as it has a maximum height of five storeys, and this element is not located on a corner, and the lot area is less than 5000sq m," the report said.

"The additional building height is not considered to have a significant detrimental impact on the amenity of the area as the development provides a stepped height, decreasing from five storeys on the corner to three storeys adjacent to the residential development to the north."

Churchlands MLA Sean L�Estrange said he had contacted Planning Minister John Day about the residents� concerns.

"While mixed use, high density developments are increasingly necessary in our growing city, they should be kept out of the quiet suburban streets and located on major public transport corridors close to shopping and service centres," Mr L’Estrange said.

"It is essential the concerns of residents are addressed when approving or amending the design of such developments."

Ms Garratt said she was also concerned with the lack of privacy, with several planned apartments peering down on her back yard.

"They�ll be knocking down the two-metre back fence we have and they're going to be replacing it with a five metre high wall, and the apartments will be directly overlooking our unit," she said.

"It's not particularly nice to sit in your back yard when someone is looking into it."