CLAIMING ‘enough is enough’ the City of Perth is yet again preparing to have it out with the East Perth Redevelopment Authority over what is turning out to be a land dispute.
CLAIMING ‘enough is enough’ the City of Perth is yet again preparing to have it out with the East Perth Redevelopment Authority over what is turning out to be a land dispute.
What has raised council’s ire is a proposal to extend EPRA’s boundaries even further southwards to incorporate the foreshore open space to the north of the Causeway and south of Trinity College.
According to a letter from Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan, extending the redevelopment area would enable EPRA to plan, undertake, promote and coordinate the redevelopment of the land in the context of the eastern gateway.
The proposal has done nothing to ease long-standing tensions between EPRA and the City of Perth and has been viewed by councillors as the authority taking over one of the city’s most significant entrances.
This is on top of fears raised by some councillors that EPRA was being positioned to play a major role in any redevelopment of former rail land if the Perth to Fremantle train line is sunk.
Currently EPRA controls 2.279sq.km of the total 8.75sq.km of City of Perth area and, if successful in obtaining the foreshore land, it will be EPRA’s fourth expansion since the authority was first established in 1991.
Last week the council unanimously voted to advise the minister that it strongly objects to the extension of EPRA’s boundaries and to the plans the authority has for the land.
Most councillors expressed concerns about how the Eastern Gateway Project would significantly alter the $8 million worth of capital works the City has spent on and around the locality.
The eight lane road that has been proposed by EPRA for the area, which involves removing the cause-way roundabout, was described by Councillor Judy McEvoy as “providing enough bitumen to land a Boeing 747 on”.
Councillor Bert Tudori likened EPRA to the computer game “Pacman, eating up everything around them”.
The City of Perth had previously criticised the Eastern Gateway Project plans for the foreshore and had highlighted that its plans to develop a high rise residential tower on the foreshore was an encroachment on council land.
In a submission sent last year, the City outlined how EPRA’s proposed development would restrict public access to the foreshore, obscure views, and was out of keeping with the low landscaped context of the City entrance.
That area of land is now subject to the proposed boundary extension.
An EPRA spokesman said that the draft master plan that was released last year included a four-way inter-change to replace the existing inter-change, however, the revised master plan, which is due to be released in the next few months, would most likely retain the existing Causeway Interchange layout.
However, the plan does note the possible need for long-term traffic improvements as the city’s population continues to increase, particularly in light of the up to 6,000 people that may move into the Gateway Project area
According to the EPRA spokes-man the council improvements to the Causeway Interchange landscape were made in the course of the master plan preparation for the Gateway Precinct.
“It is understood that the landscape improvements were funded by Main Roads Western Australia with works carried out by the City of Perth,” he said.
“The subject land area is relatively small, but is strategic as a parcel that will enable better and more comprehensive urban renewal outcomes for the eastern gateway to Perth.”
