REDEVELOPMENT of iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest’s heritage Tukurua home is been investigated after a new hedge appeared to narrow a public footpath at the front of the beachside project on Marine Parade, Cottesloe.
“The town is currently investigating this,” a Cottesloe Council spokeswoman told communitynews.com.au earlier this week.
Photographs show a new hedge apparently in land used by the previous 2.5m-wide path, resulting on a new 1.6m-wide route for walkers.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOWThe council spokeswoman said it was not an official investigation, and staff would inspect the hedge to check its compliance with the approved plans.
Mr Forrest’s contractors are currently completing a restoration of 21-room Tukurua and building several new homes at the front of the 5001sq m beachside site.
The late-1890s built house and its land were reportedly bought for $16 million in 2015, the first sale in the now 124-year-old home’s history.
Earlier this month, its old front footpath was removed by a contractor to plant a hedge specifically grown for the purpose.
A spokeswoman for Mr Forrest’s Dalkeith-based Mindaroo Foundation said the hedge was been planted according to the council’s specifications and approved planning documents.
The spokeswoman said no breaches were found by its staff when it was inspected before concrete for the new path was later poured.
“The Forrest family elected to set the fence inside the boundary so a hedge could be planted on the outside of the fence to make the streetscape lush and green, instead of the typical, and less attractive, fence or wall on the boundary,” she said.
She said the hedge would be trimmed into “a neat line” as it grew, with the first cut scheduled next week.
It is expected the Tukurua project, for which trades vehicles have filled the parade and adjacent streets for many months to the ire of some residents and beach users, will be complete at the end of June.