Chance to revive rejected Tawarri proposal

The state’s peak planning body is still on track to assess the proposal for the Tawarri Hot Springs site despite the project already rejected by the local council.

The City of Nedlands council decided to not enter a head lease with the state of Western Australia over the Tawarri Hot Springs site at its special meeting last week.

The site, historically known as Dalkeith Hot Pool, on 120 Esplanade in Dalkeith is a Class A reserve vested to the city for care and control and is earmarked for a $25 million revamp.

A redevelopment proposal was lodged via the WA government's State Development Assessment Unit, planned to be considered by the WA Planning Commission.

The multi-million dollar proposal includes the development of a day spa, a restaurant or cafe, and public realm and landscape works.

City officers recommended for the council to enter into a head lease of 21 years with the state government, to which councillors refused at the March 29 meeting.

"Should elected members choose not to support the recommendation as contained within this report, the project would not go ahead and the city would be facing costs of (about) $1.04 million to remediate the carpark and drainage issues and remove the derelict facility,” officers said in the council report.

Officers also recommended for the council to support the application currently in the SDAU, but the item was not considered at the special meeting.

“Council decided not to deal with the report relating to the SDAU planning application for Tawarri Hot Springs on the basis that as the lease had not been supported by council, the applicant had no tenure over the land and thus the planning application is not complete and should not be considered at this time,” the council resolution said.

However, a Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage spokesperson said the SDAU was continuing to assess the application and would make a recommendation to the WAPC for determination at a future meeting, which is yet to be scheduled.

“The lease is a separate matter and does not have a bearing on the commission’s ability to determine the development application,” the spokesperson said.

Nedlands' chief executive Bill Parker confirmed today that the matter was in the hands of the SDAU.

“The city has advised the State Development Assessment Unit (SDAU) of the council’s resolution of March 29, 2022,” he said.

“The SDAU is now responsible for determining the next steps for the Tawarri development application.”

A facility on the site known as “The Dome” was built in 1957 and operated as the Tawarri Function Centre until 2018.