91-apartment Jindalee tower wins approval despite 100 objections

The Metro Outer Development Assessment Panel unanimously approved a 91-apartment, seven-storey building on the corner of Jindalee Boulevard and Maritime Drive on 13 October, rejecting residents’ arguments that the design breaches the Jindalee Coastal Village structure plan. PerthNow reports the applicant, town planning firm Pinnacle Planning, lodged the proposal and that the project carries a reported value of $60 million; that figure comes from the outlet’s reporting rather than a confirmed project budget.

Why it matters

The approval tests how far a Development Assessment Panel will stretch a structure plan before refusing an application outright. The Jindalee Coastal Village structure plan caps buildings in the precinct at five storeys, with wall heights of 18.5 metres and roof heights of 23.5 metres. The approved design reaches seven storeys, with a 22.42 metre wall and a 23.23 metre roof, over the wall limit but within the roof limit. City of Wanneroo panel members Eman Seif and Jacqueline Huntley moved the approval, with Cr Huntley telling the meeting that refusing a compliant application would only invite a costly State tribunal review with a worse outcome for residents. For other Perth infill sites sitting inside superseded structure plans, the decision signals panels will lean on technical compliance over neighbourhood objection once a scheme’s numeric limits are met on balance.

The numbers

The application drew 100 objections and eight submissions of support when advertised for public comment, according to PerthNow’s account of the Metro Outer Development Assessment Panel meeting on 13 October. Three objecting residents addressed the panel directly, including Shirley Slade, who told members the design departs from the structure plan’s agreed height limits. Ben Carter, representing applicant Pinnacle Planning, told the panel the site’s slope reduces the building’s visual impact on neighbouring properties and that the bulk of the tower sits 48 metres from the eastern boundary. “We do believe that we’ve made some conscious decisions to assist with mitigating the impacts of the development,” Carter said. The panel’s approval was unanimous. PerthNow’s reported $60 million project value has not been confirmed against a second source and is presented here as the outlet’s figure, not a verified budget.

What’s next

Construction timing has not been disclosed in the record PerthNow reported on, and no builder or construction start date is named. Residents who raised unaddressed concerns about cumulative traffic impact from other developments in the Jindalee Coastal Village precinct, and about the loss of public open space, have the option of seeking a review at the State Administrative Tribunal, the prospect Cr Huntley cited in backing the approval rather than a refusal. Any such challenge would centre on the wall-height departure from the structure plan rather than the roof height, which the approved design keeps within the existing limit. The City of Wanneroo has not indicated whether further structure plan amendments are planned for the Jindalee Coastal Village precinct in response to the height dispute raised at this meeting. The approval adds to a cluster of Perth apartment decisions clearing panels this month, a trend tracked in the Karratha social housing carve-out motion. Jindalee’s Coastal Village precinct has drawn repeated height disputes as nearby sites reach the market, and the panel’s reasoning in this case, that compliance leaves no lawful ground for refusal, is likely to recur as more of the precinct is built out.