Apartment approvals for hospital site expire
A PLAN to build three apartment towers in the Bunbury city centre appears to be off the table after approval for the development expired a month ago.
Perth company Bunbury City Apartments planned to build the three towers, each up to eight-storeys high, on a block of land on Edward Street - the former site of the St John of God Hospital.
But Bunbury City Council director of planning Bob Karaszkewych confirmed the planning approval - which was extended last year - had now expired.
"The development approval previously issued has expired and the owner is aware of this," he said.
"There is no current development application lodged for assessment.
"The owner has in the past 18 months been liaising with the city on a series of commercial-in-confidence development scenarios."
It is unclear what impact this lapsed approval will have on the future of the development.
Former Bunbury City Apartments director Richard Sciano said in a letter to the council last year it was important for the planning approval to be maintained.
"It is important for Bunbury City Apartments to maintain the current planning approval as part of their responsibilities to their bank, for valuation and funding purposes and to retain the invested value.
"Over the past two years and currently, Bunbury City Apartments has been and is in discussion with major hoteliers, retailers and developers, designing plans and running feasibility studies on the site and portions of the site, in order to start an appropriate development as soon as possible.
"Bunbury City Apartments assures the City of Bunbury a development will be started at the earliest possible time taking into account the market conditions and market appetite as a whole."
The development dates back to April 2006 but has been bogged down in a series of delays since the Global Financial Crisis.
The old St John of God Hospital became a ruin and a haven for anti-social behaviour, including drug use and graffiti, until it was partly demolished.
Only a small part of the hospital remains on the land because it is part of a retaining wall for houses on Bury Hill, in Parkfield Street.
Bunbury Mayor Gary Brennan has previously supported plans for the development.
