Neighbourhood clash over $27m Dalkeith mansion

A proposal to add a swimming pool and pavilion to the late Alan Bond’s Dalkeith mansion has caused planners and lawyers to lock horns at a Nedlands council meeting.

The property on 89 Watkins Road was acquired by former elite bodybuilder and Nutrition Systems chief executive Danny Pavlovich and his wife, Suzie, for $27.5 million in 2020.

The Pavlovichs have been seeking council approval to add a garage, a porte cochere and parcel drop-off building in the front of the house, a pavilion, pool, and pool storage space to their house.

However, City of Nedlands councillors refused to grant development approval at their meeting last night, finding the proposal inconsistent with design principles.

A majority of the councillors considered the proposed setbacks should be reduced to avoid impact to neighbours.

A neighbour who has spoken up against the Pavlovichs’ plan is Coogee director Jennifer Roughan, who engaged element strategic counsel David Read and Hotchkin Hanly partner Phillip Dobson to present on her behalf.

Ms Roughan said the proposed work would make the development too bulky and the pavilion too close to her house on Victoria Avenue.

“It’s not reasonable to completely block us in so they can get more room in their oversized pavilion and impact our amenities this way,” she said at the meeting.

“The current proposal, even if token conditions are imposed, will impact our dining and living rooms, down to our kids’ bedrooms, extend out to our balcony and back down to our backyard and rear deck.”

Mr Dobson said people standing at the Pavlovichs’ pool could directly look into Ms Roughan’s private living spaces.

“You will no doubt see and understand the permanent and detrimental impact the development would have on my client’s property,” he said.

At the meeting, Mr Pavlovich said his application for a pool and alfresco space was no different to other homes in the area.

“This submission has been recommended for approval by [the city’s] planning officers … I understand my neighbour is still pursuing an objection,” he said.

Mr Pavlovich said Ms Roughan’s objections should not be considered because her property was actually in the Town of Claremont, not the City of Nedlands.

“They received [dispensations] on their development approval for The Gardens in Nedlands despite many objections from neighbours, which I find hypocritical as this submission is for my forever family home and not for a commercial development,” he said.

Ms Roughan is an executive director at Atrio Property Group, a company that developed a 43-apartment development named The Gardens in Nedlands.

Planning Solutions director Ben Doyle, on behalf of Mr Pavlovich, said the neighbours’ outcry stemmed from being entitled to views of the river.

“When you’ve got planners and lawyers here today talking about proper statutory construction, you might get the feeling this is somehow more controversial or complicated than it really is,” he said.

“This is a very simple matter. This is renovations to an existing house which Danny and Suzie will live in as their home.

“Neighbours have raised all sorts of claims in conversation with councillors, I suggest those are all red herrings.

“The plan today is already a product of many compromises.”

Despite Mr Pavlovich's plea, the city council voted to refuse to grant development approval by a margin of six votes to three.

"Notwitstanding this is a frustrating process for the proponent, I do feel that with such a large property that any alterations to this building should have been entirely done within the existing building envelope," Nedlands councillor Fergus Bennett said.

"On top of that, even if well designed, it still added to the height bulk and scale to that particular neighbour.

"It's also irrelevant that the neighbour may have connections to some developments in the City of Nedlands. 

"It would be dishonourable to treat people outside of our boundary any different."

Mr Pavlovich lodged his application in October 2022 but the proposed works failed to be approved after concerns were raised by the city, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, and the public.

Mr Pavlovich’s business Nutrition Systems was one of the first companies in Australia to import health, wellness and sports nutritional products from the US.

In 2019, biotech company OBJ bought Export Corporation (Australia) Pty Ltd, the owner and operator of Nutrition Systems, for $85 million.

Mr Bond built the Dalkeith home, designed by architect Geoffrey Summerhayes, in the 1980s.

Sue Gibson and her ex-husband, mining magnate Steve Wyatt, bought the house for $39 million in 2011.

Business News previously reported about the sale of the property, which covers 6,406 square metres and includes orchards, a tennis court and a 25-metre swimming pool.