A Supreme Court trial over an apartment proposal at the Yelo cafe site has come to an end after resident group Too Big for Trigg dropped its application.
A Supreme Court trial over an apartment proposal at the Yelo cafe site has come to an end after resident group Too Big for Trigg dropped its application.
Too Big for Trigg withdrew its Supreme Court action against the Metro Inner-North Joint Development Assessment Panel this morning, ahead of a scheduled trial.
The group sought to appeal the approval of Momentum Wealth's $4.75 million four-storey apartment block on West Coast Drive, which was decided by the JDAP in August.
A scheduled two-day trial ran on May 19 and 20, and had been extended for another two days starting today after some issues remained unsolved.
However, the Too Big for Trigg group withdrew some of its grounds of appeal in the days leading up to the second phase of the trial and ultimately discontinued the action altogether this morning.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission records show the directors of Too Big for Trigg are residents Phil Botsis, Roy Burton, Stanley Horsman and Wayne Blakeney.
According to the Supreme Court writ lodged in March, the group alleges the JDAP had no jurisdiction or power to grant the approval because the Trigg site was in a R20 residential zone as listed on a scheme map.
Mr Horsman said the scheme map the group relied on was changed last week, with the West Coast Drive site now no longer listed as an R20 zone.
"Our whole case was on the scheme map which was on the city's website for years," he said.
"They changed the map ... it came as a big shock to us."
Developer Momentum Wealth, now branded under Westbridge Urban, was involved in the trial on behalf of the JDAP.
Westbridge Urban managing director Damian Collins said he expected the number of remaining apartments to sell "very quickly" with the matter now discontinued.
“While we are disappointed that this matter has wasted a considerable amount of the court’s time, we are extremely pleased it has now been settled and we can progress full steam ahead with our development as planned”, he said.
“We’re looking to the future and are focused on delivering this exciting development for our purchasers and the broader Trigg community."
The group has agreed to contribute to the developer's costs.
The apartment proposal had been the centre of tension between locals and developers, with residents and City of Stirling concerned about the height, traffic and parking issues.
The approved design replaced the Yelo cafe tenancy with an office, in a bid to mitigate concerns of congestion in the area.
Construction is expected to start later this year.
