A spat between coastal residents and the decision-making body which approved the Yelo site development has escalated to the Supreme Court, with a trial planned in May.
A spat between coastal residents and the decision-making body which approved the Yelo site development has escalated to the Supreme Court, with a trial planned in May.
The Metro Inner-North Joint Development Assessment Panel approved a $4.75 million, four-storey apartment block on the Yelo cafe site in Trigg in August last year.
The Too Big for Trigg group will claim as part of their court case that the panel members made an error and had no jurisdiction or power to grant the approval because the West Coast Drive site was in an R20 residential zone.
Areas coded R20 allow for one dwelling on a 450sqm site. However, the development is set on a 680sqm site and will have six apartments and an office.
Alternatively, the group will claim the decision was "unreasonable" without any "plausible justifications" or not supported on logical grounds.
The City of Stirling sets a maximum height of three storeys or 12 metres in its local planning policy.
Too Big for Trigg resident group spokesman Phil Botsis, who works for Satterley Group, said it was "not a good site" for the four-storey building.
"This has an adverse aspect on to people... The only benefit they (apartment owners) will have is the view," he said.
"We're having a go. We're the underdogs. The community is really up against this. There's four of us but we're really representing the whole community."
Australian Securities and Investments Commission records show the directors of Too Big For Trigg Pty Ltd are local residents Mr Botsis, Roy Burton, Stanley Horsman and Wayne Blakeney.
The proposal had been the centre of years of tension between locals and developer Momentum Wealth, with residents and City of Stirling councillors complaining about height, traffic and parking issues at numerous meetings.
Previous designs were knocked back by the same panel but the developer's recent redesign, which included the replacement of the popular Yelo cafe with an office in a move aimed at mitigating traffic issues, was approved.
Momentum Wealth managing director Damian Collins said he was comfortable a proper process had been followed.
"This zoning not being correct was dismissed and raised in the four JDAP hearings," he said.
"It's not much larger than any of the homes there. It's an overreaction to what is a modest development."
A Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage spokesperson said they could not provide further comment while the matter was before the courts.
However, the spokesperson confirmed this was not the first time a panel decision had been referred for judicial review with the Supreme Court.
A two-day trial for the matter will be held in the Supreme Court on May 19 and 20.
