The Western Australian Planning Commission has given the green light to a $22 million social housing development on Albany Highway in East Victoria Park, despite strong objections from the local council.
Development Details
The project at 930 Albany Highway comprises two towers of five and eight storeys built on a four-storey podium, housing 45 dwellings. These include 17 one-bedroom and 28 two-bedroom apartments, along with 46 car bays, four motorcycle bays, and 23 bicycle bays.
The statutory planning committee of the WA Planning Commission unanimously approved the plans during its June 10 meeting.
Council's Disappointment
Town of Victoria Park manager development services Robert Cruickshank expressed the council's disappointment that the application was recommended for approval. He argued that the proposal deviates substantially from the town's Albany Highway precinct structure plan, which was developed after extensive community consultation and is expected to be formally approved within weeks.
"It would not be consistent with orderly and proper planning principles to approve a DA that varies very significant key built form controls of an imminent PSP that's gone through a significant preparatory work and community consultation exercise," Mr Cruickshank said.
He noted that the development's built form differs from what the precinct plan envisioned, with only cosmetic design changes made in response to earlier feedback. "There's been no meaningful response to those comments other than cosmetic changes to the design treatment, rather than changes to the building form," he added.
Mr Cruickshank highlighted specific deviations: the plot ratio exceeds the limit by 47 percent, the building height is one storey above the proposed cap, and the setbacks are insufficient. "There's nothing that has been presented that justifies how the development can be considered to be consistent with the desired built form for the locality," he said.
Developer's Perspective
Alan Stewart from Lateral Planning, representing the developer, noted that this section of Albany Highway has been underutilised for decades. "I couldn't find any record of previous development in the last 60 years," he said.
Mr Stewart emphasised that the site's topography was crucial in shaping the design, particularly the arrangement of setbacks and car parking. He asserted that the precinct plan was not disregarded but closely considered. "We certainly have not disregarded that precinct plan; it's quite the opposite. We've had really close due regard to the objectives and many of the provisions of that precinct plan," he said.
While acknowledging some variations, Mr Stewart did not consider them significant. He explained that the design evolved from a single tower to two towers, which better achieves the precinct plan's objective of transitioning heights from Hubert Street to Albany Highway. "With that difference in topography, there's only about a two-storey difference between the potential five-story buildings on Hubert Street to our proposed nine-storey building," he said.
Commissioners' Views
Commissioner Chris Harman admitted he struggled with the proposal, acknowledging the validity of the town's comments. He said he would have been more comfortable with an eight-storey building, but the additional storey did not warrant refusal.
Commissioner Megan Adair also struggled with the proposal, primarily due to her dislike of the design, though she conceded that was irrelevant. She agreed that the extra storey was "neither here nor there."
