Cottesloe hits back at attempts to develop beachfront land surrounding McCall Centre

The Town of Cottesloe could be set to clash with the State Government over plans to restore the McCall Centre, and sell and develop the surrounding beachfront land. However, Mayor Lorraine Young has acknowledged the Town’s NIMBY reputation and called for a more balanced approach. Town staff have advised councillors to tell the WA Planning Commission they oppose rezoning an 8000sqm lot on Curtin Avenue, which includes the historic McCall Centre, from Public Purposes to Urban. About 80 per cent of the land on Lot 556 is in the Town of Cottesloe and the rest is in Mosman Park. According to a WAPC report, rezoning the land will allow for “the sale and redevelopment of the site and the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings on it”. Town of Cottesloe staff have described the Urban rezoning as “premature prior to detailed planning and design development” and claimed the site “is disconnected from existing urban development”. “The proposed change to an Urban zone is contrary to the orderly and proper planning of the locality as it ignores the previous strategic planning endorsed by the community and previous State governments for the Leighton Beach Peninsula over the past 30 years,” staff said. “It will also enable land uses and development to be considered that could adversely impact on the intended uses of the site for recreational and community purposes.” The WAPC plans to conserve and re-use the heritage buildings, but council staff say this could be done without the planning change. At a meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Young noted the Fremantle council had commented on the rezoning rather than expressing definitive opposition or support. The Mayor praised Fremantle’s “clever political approach.” “I’m conscious that we have a reputation for objecting everything,” she said. Ms Young asked the staff if they would consider “a more positive tone” and present council a submission that “was less likely to play into that stereotype that we sometimes unfairly suffer from.” “There are opportunities that we want to pursue (on the Lot) but we just don’t think they (the WAPC) are doing it in the right way,” she said. The land is owned by the WA Government and features the 1926 former Cottesloe Cable Station. In 1990, in response to years of community lobbying, cabinet approved the principle of establishing a regional park on the Leighton Peninsula. More recently, it was known as the McCall Centre and was occupied by the Department of Child Protection until 2016. It has been vacant since then. The Town of Cottesloe is set to vote on the item on May 24. Last month, the Town of Mosman Park supported the rezoning, subject to a series of conditions. The council asked the WAPC to retain existing trees and to preserve a potential population of endangered black cockatoos, ensure appropriate building setbacks from high-risk bushfire areas and to make sure future development complements, highlights and protects “the heritage significance of the site”.