The construction of East Perth Primary School, stalled for more than a year over a stoush between the state and the City of Perth, can now proceed despite their inability to reach an agreement.
Education Minister Tony Buti and Planning Minister John Carey announced on Tuesday they would repeal an act stopping the land’s development, and compensate the City of Perth $4.2 million for the loss of revenue from the car park currently there.
The state government and City could not reach an agreement over the land. Credit: Holly Thompson/ Supplied
By getting rid of the 64-year-old Chevron Hilton Hotel Management Act, which stopped the land being anything but a car park, the state government claimed they also unlocked housing development potential for the City to the tune of more than $27 million, given the City will retain some of the land.
But discussions between Minister Buti and Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas remain fruitless and the announcement comes without Zempilas’ agreement.
In fact, Buti admitted at the press conference on Tuesday the state only wrote to the City “very, very recently” about this announcement and had not yet received a response.
“We have the advice that this is the legal route that we should take as a result of the City not coming to the party, and we believe this is the right process,” he said.
Zempilas has since expressed his fury.
“Every time this state government doesn’t get its own way, they spit the dummy and change legislation to bully their way through,” he told this masthead.
“They should not use their position of power to effectively steal people’s land. West Australians should be horrified by this government’s conduct. Where will it stop? The arrogance of absolute power.
“They are taking land they valued at $40 million off the ratepayers of the City of Perth. This is outrageous.”
In November, Zempilas received a letter from Buti’s office stating it would purchase two parcels of the Queens Garden car park site at “a fair market valuation” to allow for the construction of the site.
Both the City and the state government independently valued those two parcels at about $40 million.
But Buti said there had never been an offer to purchase the land, and there was an issue with the language in the correspondence, which he “immediately cleared up” with the lord mayor.
He said the government was not stealing land from the City, and that it was misleading to say so.
The City is “considering its legal position”.
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