Perth, Western Australia May 10, 2008 Home News Time Out Letters Write a Letter Special Coverage Walsham Classifieds Search Real Estate Trades & Services Submit About Contact Us Advertising Legal	Neds lashed over height limits A major Waratah Avenue landowner has slammed Nedlands council's redevelopment guide as ridiculous. Real estate agent John Davies said the proposals, which have now been scrapped, would have spoilt the area. He said the way the council had handled it was a debacle. And he clashed with council staff when he accused them of not listening. "It is a debacle," he said. "Owners were led to believe they were going to get rezoning and the council turned around and changed their minds. "I am quite upset, years of work is being decimated. "I have got a parcel of land, it has been hard to hold. "Since 1999 I have been hitting barriers continuously." Mr Davies who, with business partner John Martin, owns a substantial part of the commercial strip on Waratah Avenue, was speaking to a committee set up to examine public response to draft guidelines that included five-storey development and apartments in part of Circe Circle. The committee in now advising the council on drawing up new guidelines. "I was pretty shocked with what the council put to the people of Dalkeith," Mr Davies said. But he said restricting new buildings to a 12m-high limit would stymie development. Development services director Carlie Eldridge rejected Mr Davies' criticism. "I do not appreciate comments about myself or my staff," she said. She said planners had followed council procedures. "The 12m (height limit) was not the original staff recommendation," she said. "The 12m was based on overwhelming community feedback. "It was not my individual opinion." Mr Davies said he wanted to see a 15m limit but would accept 14m. "There is no action going to take place if 12m is approved - it is less then we have in the village shopping centre at the moment. There is no vision in that. "The vision has to keep harmonious balance." He said he did not like the council's proposal to allow building on property boundaries. He said a front setback was more welcoming to pedestrians and bike riders and safer for children. Mr Davies said his idea was that new buildings would circle around a fountain. "If this area is developed correctly it will improve the value of Dalkeith remarkably, as long as it is done tastefully," he said. Do you have something to say? Write to us and we may publish your letter next week. BACK TO TOP < PREVIOUS - HOME - NEXT> Copyright © 1999 - 2008 Post Newspapers Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.