By David Kavanagh | posted on May 31, 2019
THE Shire of Denmark has refused an application by the Denmark Baptist Community to build a church citing issues such as the development size, suggested usage and potential impacts on nearby landowners.
The Baptist Union of Western Australia has owned Lot 166 at 987 South Coast Highway for around 30 years and lodged an application to build ‘a place of public worship, community purposes and consulting rooms’ at the site with Shire Planning Services on January 1.
The motion to refuse the development approval was carried six to three by Shire councillors at their recent council meeting.
Church Pastor Graeme Ritchie said they had been renting the St John Ambulance Hall on Price Street for the past two decades and were in need of a new site to carry out church activities.
“Renting restricts the sort of things we would like to do within the community because we don’t have our own facilities,” he said.
According to the application, the building would be around 560 square metres in size, reach a maximum height of 6.3 metres and include an assembly hall with seating for 180 people and support facilities such as toilets, a kitchen and counselling rooms.
Shire Chief Executive Officer Bill Parker said the building’s size was one of a number of reasons behind the rejection verdict.
“Council was further concerned that there would be unreasonable impacts on surrounding landowners,” he said.
Eight submissions received during a 42-day public consultation process conducted by Planning Services also objected to the proposal for various reasons, with some calling the scale of the development excessive for a local Baptist congregation of around 40 people.
“It doesn’t matter how big the congregation is now,” Mr Ritchie said.
“You’re looking at a town that’s going to grow and grow over the next 25 years or more [with] more people moving into the area.
“We have a shortage of aged care activities and facilities in the area, so we’re looking at things like that.”
Mr Ritchie said the Baptist Church’s building committee had enlisted the aid of an acoustic engineer during the design process and suggested the facility could be used for other activities, including concerts.
Lot 166 is located in a residential zone about 600 metres east of the town centre and down the road from the Shire office.
According to Mr Parker, developments intended for “community use” are not permitted in a residential area without Council approval.
“Its proposed usage [is] not fitting with the residential nature of the neighbourhood,” he said.
Architect Martin Beeck worked with the Church to design the space and said he didn’t recall the residential area issue being raised during consultations with Shire staff.
Mr Ritchie took issue with several other reasons for refusal listed in the council resolution following this month’s meeting.
He said there was some confusion about reason four for the rejection that stated ‘the provision of consulting rooms detracts from the primacy of the CBD for service provision’.
“The term consulting room has given a wrong impression,” he said.
“All of a sudden at the council meeting we heard we were going to be letting out rooms to doctors, lawyers, dentists and all that.
“We were left gobsmacked about that … we’re not going to do anything along that line.”
Mr Ritchie said the extra rooms could instead be used for things like seminars about budgeting, family planning, and life after divorce.
Mr Parker said in this case the term ‘consulting room’ referred to a building used by legally qualified medical practitioners or persons associated with “the prevention, investigation or treatment of physical or mental ailments”.
“Pastor Ritchie’s comments around consulting rooms will be an item for discussion with a view to providing more clarity around the proposed use,” he said.
Mr Ritchie said he intended to meet with the Council to find some resolution before considering approaching the State Administrative Tribunal for review.
Mr Parker said the Shire planned “to meet with the proponent next week with the aim of collaborating and discussing a mutually acceptable position”.
Architect: Martin Beeck
