‘I don’t think it could be much worse going to 12 storeys as it would be the focal point of its suburb instead of the ocean and the beach, and set a precedent for development on all beachfronts, not just Cottesloe,’ Keep Cott Low founder John Hammond said.
In April, Northbridge-based town planner Greg Rowe and Associates asked Fremantle Council to raise height limits from 17m for 4-5 storeys to 40m for 11-12 storeys at the former Matilda Bay Brewery overlooking Leighton Beach in North Fremantle.
At Cottesloe, the Government wants 6-8 storeys at the Il Lido and Ocean Beach Hotel sites fronting the beach but the brewery is about 300m inland with uninterrupted views.
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READ NOWHowever, the site is in a Fremantle Council development zone near McCabe Street where heights at the former One Steel depot, a landscaper and behind the brewery are a mix of 11m, 14m, 17m and 20m, while limits of 11m-17m apply at the nearby $220 million Taskers development where work started on six-storey apartments started last week.
‘It is an anomaly as our border goes right up to the Buckland Hill Estate,’ Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt said.
Concerning mergers’ effect on the development zone, Dr Pettitt said it would ‘make more sense’ if all the zone was controlled by one council until the projects were completed and this may be in a submission to the Local Government Advisory Board by October 4.
Mosman Park Mayor Ron Norris spoke against developing the One Steel site several years ago but proposed taking over part of North Fremantle in pre-merger debate in the past two years.
Last week, Mr Norris said the development zone illustrated the planning and infrastructure ‘lunacy’ of North Fremantle being put in the western suburbs when decisions about the zone had been made by Fremantle.
Mosman Park would now have to deal with congestion caused by projects like Taskers, from which it would get no rates, he said.