Green light for Nedlands apartments

A development panel has overruled a council's recommendation to reject an $11 million apartment building in Nedlands.

RAD Architecture, on behalf of Capital Way Interiors, is proposing to build a nine-storey apartment block on 1A Thomas Street at the intersection with Stirling Highway.

The 1,014 square metre lot currently houses a single-storey home.

The Metro Inner-North Joint Development Assessment Panel members approved the proposal 3-2 at its meeting today, despite a recommendation to refuse.

The development will include 27 apartments, a basement-level carpark and a possible commercial tenancy on the ground floor.

Planning officers at City of Nedlands recommended for the council to submit to the JDAP a recommendation for appoval.

Councillors instead voted to recommend refusal at their meeting earlier this month, citing inconsistent setbacks, overshadowing and the proposed development being incompatible with the Nedlands streetscape.

Mayor Fiona Argyle spoke against the proposal as the rest of the dwellings on Thomas Street comprise single and two storey developments.

JDAP members, with the exception of the two city councillors on the panel, decided to approve the proposal as per Nedlands' planning staff's initial recommendation.

"We're hoping to start construction by the end of the year," RAD Architecture director Sean van der Poel said.

"Our client's already looking at builders."

According to the city's planning assessment, this was the first development on the block to take advantage of new zone coding of R-AC1 which was gazetted in 2019.

The R-AC1 density coding reportedly has no height limits imposed as per the city's local planning scheme No.3.