THE State Administrative Tribunal has rejected an application for review of a City of Perth decision that refused development approval for an eight-storey building adjoining Jacob’s Ladder.
The site for the proposed building is owned by Swanhill Enterprises Pty Ltd, which is part-owned by the Di Latte family of Belmont-based group Diploma Construction.
In November, the City of Perth decided not to approve Swanhill’s development proposal to construct the 32-metre tall commercial building at 130B Cliff Street at the base of Mt Eliza.
The council had previously approved a similar development by Swanhill on the site, but refused development approval in this case, largely because of the height and visual impact of the building.
The tribunal agreed with the City of Perth that the proposed development warranted refusal because of the ‘significant and detrimental’ impacts on the amenity of Jacob’s Ladder.
Under the council’s planning policy, the Mt Eliza escarpment is recognised as an important element of the setting and image of the City of Perth, preservation of which is ‘of the highest priority’.
The tribunal asserted that because of its excessive height and the need to remove a substantial part of the escarpment on the site, the development would ‘unacceptably reduce the views to the Swan River, foreshore and city’ and would have an overbearing impact on users of Jacob’s Ladder.
Solicitor for Swanhill Enterprises, Greg Rowe, argued that the height of the building allowed for a considerable portion of the escarpment to be viewed above the highest point of the development.
The tribunal said that, in his argument, Mr Rowe also relied on the approval by the City of Perth on February 19 2008 for essentially the same building, which lapsed at the start of 2010.
However, counsel for the City of Perth argued that the plans and photo montage presented by Swanhill to the council in its application for approval in 2008 gave a misleading impression of the height of the development.
The tribunal concluded that the proposed development would also be a significant breach of the development standards prescribed by the West Perth Precinct Plan and the Mount Street Design Policy, in relation to maximum building height, minimum side setbacks and maximum height of retaining walls against the scarp.
