Unit plan angers locals

Currently 11 short-stay units are on the site, as well as a conference hall, dining hall and recreational rooms which were previously rented by Clontarf Aboriginal College.

In December 2011 Joondalup Council voted to rezone the site from R20 to R40.

At the time, part owner Grant Dorrington wrote to nearby residents asking them to support the rezoning, saying the intention was to redevelop the site with eight houses.

The letter said the plan was for ‘a less intensive development than the existing accommodation units’.

Mr Dorrington told the Times last week he realised after the rezoning that developing the site was ‘beyond our experience’.

‘We didn’t have the know-how to develop the site so we decided to sell,’ he said.

‘There was never any intention to mislead anyone, we had no idea what the buyers were planning to do with it.’

Lennard Street resident Trevor Hutchings said residents were hit with a ‘bombshell’ when they saw the revised plans for 20 two-bedroom units.

‘The current proposal is so out of character with the surrounding homes and the rest of the suburb,’ he said.

‘Unfortunately the block was spot rezoned in 2011 with some support from locals after a campaign by the owners using their misleading information.’

Joondalup Mayor Troy Pickard said with an estimated cost of more than $4 million, the development would be assessed by the North West Metropolitan Development Assessment Panel.

‘The applicant is in the process of making some changes to the proposal in response to issues raised by the City and neighbours,’ he said.

Chris Morley, who lives on nearby Cliff Street, said the proposed development was not in keeping with the surrounding area.

‘The development would be essentially a block of high-density flats surrounded by the pre-existing single residential properties,’ he said.

Mr Morley said traffic would increase in the area as a result of the development.

‘Lennard Street is already congested with verge-parked vehicles and is heavily used by pedestrians, including children who use this relatively narrow and quiet street for beach access,’ he said.

‘The additional traffic would not only increase congestion further but would arguably constitute an increased safety hazard to both motorists and pedestrians.’

Proposal architect Giles Harden-Jones said he was working with the development assessment panel on the development.