Council wins Cottesloe Beach Hotel appeal

The Town of Cottesloe is claiming a victory against construction giant Multiplex after the Court of Appeal overturned a State Administrative Tribunal decision approving a 6-storey development proposal for the iconic Cottesloe Beach Hotel.

The following is a Town of Cottesloe announcement

The Town of Cottesloe today won a Supreme Court appeal which effectively means the end of Multiplex's appeal to the State Administrative Tribunal against Cottesloe's refusal of a 6-storey development proposal for the Cottesloe Beach Hotel.

The Court of Appeal confirmed the Town's view that Multiplex's 2004 development application was fundamentally flawed and cannot be approved under Cottesloe's Town Planning Scheme. The Court decided that the Scheme's heritage provisions do not allow Council to vary height and other planning requirements.

Rather the scheme envisages a two-stage approval process for the Council involving a heritage consent (which requires the protection of heritage values) and a separate development approval (which requires normal town planning compliance).

Mayor Kevin Morgan said that "Today's judgment is a victory for grass-roots, community aspirations for a low-rise Cottesloe beachfront. It thwarted the big end of town's attempt to use clever legal reasoning to side-step the height limits that are so treasured by the community.

"Although the community has won today's battle, there is still a long way to go in winning the overall war. We must ensure that there are no back-room deals with the State Government on our draft new town planning scheme by developers who continue to peddle the nonsense that height limits must be increased in order to encourage redevelopment.

"Our new scheme goes beyond the existing scheme and offers ample planning concessions that will encourage the redevelopment of the Cottesloe Beach Hotel and other foreshore sites without compromising our 12 metre/3 storey height limit which must be retained.

"The Court judgment should provide sufficient clarity for Multiplex that Cottesloe will do everything within its powers to reject unwanted and inappropriate planning proposals."