Peregrine’s fifth attempt at Kensington Park OTR servo to be discussed behind closed doors by Burnside Council

A fifth attempt to build a controversial OTR servo in Kensington Park will be considered behind closed doors by Burnside Council.

The Kensington Road site was formerly an Ozone service station. Picture: Eugene Boisvert

It could be a case of fifth time lucky for OTR parent company Peregrine Corporation.

Burnside councillors will assess an appeal from Peregrine behind closed doors on March 16, after its proposal for the corner of Kensington Road and May Terrace was rejected by the council’s assessment panel in September 2019.

The panel, by a 4-1 vote, rejected the plan saying it did not qualify as a “small-scale” development and would create traffic and safety problems.

The secret meeting continues a longwinded process that began in November 2016 with a community protest of over 200 people against an earlier plan.

Peregrine’s initial proposal was rejected by the State Government’s assessment panel in June 2017 and an appeal in the Environment, Resources and Development Court in July 2018 was dismissed.

That decision was then upheld in the Supreme Court, in May 2019.

Months prior to the decision, Peregrine told The Messenger, it would pursue a second proposal if its Supreme Court challenge was unsuccessful.

This week, a Burnside Council spokeswoman said an applicant had the right to appeal when a proposal was rejected by the panel.

Community protests against the proposed service station began in November, 2016. Picture: File

“This appeal process is conducted in confidence in order that council’s legal position is not jeopardised,” she said.

However, vocal opponent of the application Chris Shakes said residents should not be kept in the dark.

“Community opposition to this proposal remains intense,” Mr Shakes said.

“We are baffled by the fact that... (this) latest proposal has been conducted behind closed doors, without community scrutiny.

“This has meant that after months of confidential dialogue between (the panel) and Shahin Enterprises, no one in the community is any wiser about what the developer now proposes.

“We are very concerned that council now proposes to discuss this proposal in secret.”

He said local residents had a right to be informed about what will be discussed and to respond to the current proposal before any decision is made.

“We know that council has the power to make this happen,” he said.

“Burnside Council has made significant and commendable efforts to improve transparency and accountability, but the recent trajectory of this proposal runs counter to this trend.”

A Peregrine spokesman said it was in “further discussions” with the council regarding the site.

“(We) look forward to reaching a mutually-beneficial outcome for all parties,” the spokesman said.

“We will be happy to share full details and plans once an agreement has been reached.”