East Fremantle multi-storey development next to medical centre approved despite doctor’s orders

A doctor fears patient consultations at a medical centre will suffer from an adjoining three-storey development. The Town of East Fremantle unanimously approved at its February 17 meeting an application from Lawrence Associates for a three-storey building with an office and three apartments at 14 Silas Street, East Fremantle. The 211sqm site is next to the East Fremantle Medical Centre. It was owned by Main Roads, which allowed it to be used for parking for the medical centre, before it was sold in 2019. It is currently vacant and closed to vehicles. A development application for a three-storey apartment was approved in 2023 but not acted upon. Dr Hilary Fine, who opened the centre in 1993, asked the council to defer making a decision on the latest proposal so there could be mediation between her and the applicants. She said she no longer worked at the centre but was worried for its staff and patients. “I note the argument by the planner that commercial buildings have no right to visual privacy but we are talking about light-filled balconied medical centre consultation rooms, not typical office space,” Dr Fine said. A submission against the proposal said the medical centre had been designed to make the most of natural light. “Upper and lower clinician consulting rooms will have no light or vegetation at their windows and the upper balconies will face a concrete wall,” it said. “Natural light in consulting rooms not only aids patient diagnosis by doctors but also improves the mental health of the room occupants.” Dr Fine and architect John Kirkness said the application did not meet eight of the town’s planning requirements. “Ratepayers would be concerned to see they can just simply be overwritten by lucrative driven developments,” Dr Fine said. Mr Kirkness said the development “completely obliterates” the medical centre’s amenity. “It is being imposed, inserted, into an area that has already been fully developed,” he said. “It is quite obvious this development has been completely designed to simply maximise the scale of the building.” Garry Lawrence, from Lawrence Associates, said the proposal had been studied “enormously” and there was no room for compromise. “With the shape of the site and the challenges for fully providing a usable space, I think we’ve done very well,” he said. A town report said the small site presented a “considerable challenge” but commended the proposal as it would bring more people and business into the area. “It is in keeping with the building form of recent developments in the town centre and contributes positively to the streetscape by addressing both Silas Street and St Peters Road,” it said. “The building is contemporary in style with heritage design elements, including open balconies and bullnose verandahs. “The proposal is not considered to be of excessive scale in the town centre.” Cr Andrew White said the proposal was worthy of approval. “It is a small, very awkward site and any design there would be challenging,” he said. Six submissions objecting to the proposal were received when it was advertised for comment last November. Concerns included there not being enough parking, the size of the building and loss of privacy for neighbouring properties. Cr Stephanie Boyd declared an interest in the proposal and did not take part in the debate or vote.