The "entombing" of a South Perth resident whose balcony has been walled in will be completed if expected approvals go through for another major development.
Developments are proliferating in the inner-city suburb as a result of a new town planning scheme that allows, among other things, zero setbacks, and Hellen Barnaby's home is the latest battleground.
An apartment block has been built flush with her home's west balcony railing, creating the effect Ms Barnaby said was like "living in a coffin".
When WAtoday previously reported on the issue, the City of South Perth said light and ventilation would still enter the home from the north, but an application has now been made for another big development on the north side and this will effectively wall them and their neighbours in.
They voiced objections to council, but the council recommended the local Development Assessment Panel approve it because it complies with the town planning scheme.
"The two balconies located at the rear of the neighbouring property ... will still access direct sunlight in the early morning and later afternoon during the winter months," the council's report to the DAP said.
Ms Barnaby said diagrams used did not account for the shadowing caused by the 21-storey Aurelia development under construction across the road, or by the other development already built flush with her balcony.
To add insult to injury, the builders have asked to put scaffolding on her balcony for two weeks so they can render the wall.
"By 4pm here, it is night-time," Ms Barnaby said.
"People think I am whingeing about losing my view. I don't own the view, it's not about views – it's about liveability."
Ms Barnaby said she lived on her balcony. It was where she relaxed, where she sat friends who came to dinner, where she tended the garden of succulents (sunlight-loving desert plants) she has cultivated for 14 years. She had lived there 26 years and thought she would live out her years there - but is now reconsidering.
"I went away on holiday recently, and this was the first time I've ever not looked forward to coming home," she said.
South Perth Peninsula Action Group spokeswoman Vicki Redden said the group was not anti-development and zero-setback policies worked fine in greenfield areas where all new development was done at once from scratch.
But problems were multiplying in South Perth, where the zero-setback policy was clashing in unexpected ways with existing developments.
The Barnabys will have five minutes to plead their case with the local development assessment panel on Wednesday before it makes its decision.
City of South Perth chief executive Geoff Glass said Amendment 46 to the city's town planning scheme, on which public consultations were underway, aimed to address situations such as this.
It proposed that where zero street or side setbacks would adversely affect an adjoining property, they would be determined on a case-by-case basis.
"In order for the recommended changes to be included in the Town Planning Scheme, they must first be supported by the elected Council Members and subsequently by the Minister for Planning," he said.
He acknowledged that residents were experiencing circumstances such as these as the suburb transitioned to a more dense urban environment, but the city was bound to assess all development applications under the planning rules as they existed at the time.
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