Rezoning divides City of Albany council as retirement village residents voice concerns

A decision to rezone a section of a vacant lot on Viastra Drive has divided City of Albany councillors over concerns it could affect the amenity of a nearby retirement village. Councillors voted six votes to five at Tuesday’s meeting to support an officer’s recommendation to change the land use of a lot surrounded by Chester Pass Road, Mercer Road, Viastra Drive, Harvey Norman and St Ives Retirement Village. Councillors Chris Thomson, Sandie Smith, Emma Doughty, Robert Sutton and Paul Terry voted against the recommendation. A point of contention among councillors was the impact of rezoning the land from “special use” to “highway commercial”. Under a Local Planning Scheme amendment endorsed at the meeting, the lot would only be used for child care, community purposes, recreation-private or a veterinary centre. But an officer’s report put to councillors ahead of the meeting noted the landholders had requested to “amend the specified land uses and zoning to better reflect market demand”. At Tuesday’s meeting, a representative of the landholders said they were “fully committed” to a medical centre to the north of the site. “We are trying to provide a new future, a viable future for the site,” he said. The matter was pushed back from the September ordinary council meeting after several St Ives residents voiced their opposition to the rezoning. Speaking to the council in September, one resident said the council had a “duty of care” to think about the impact of rezoning the site. “We will still have to live with the consequences for the remainder of our lives at St Ives,” the resident said. At Tuesday’s meeting, the St Ives village manager said residents had done their “due diligence” before moving to one of the 50 units. She said rezoning the site to “highway commercial” would disrupt their daily lives due to increased traffic and noise. “Something of this nature could reduce the value of their property,” she said. “They bought that with a percentage of their retirement savings ... any devaluation of their property will obviously have an adverse effect on how they can care for themselves at a later date.” Moving the motion, Cr Greg Stocks acknowledged it was important to consider the impact of the change on the amenity of surrounding landholders. But he said he doubted the rezoning would “dramatically change” the level of traffic moving around the retirement village. Cr Thomson spoke against the motion and said changes to the land use would negatively impact the retirement village residents. He told councillors that voting against the motion was a “golden opportunity” to deliver on an objective of the City’s Age Friendly Albany Plan, that is, inclusive of the needs of an ageing population.