Joondalup Council has bowed to pressure from ratepayers to shoot down a proposed $100 million performing arts centre despite sinking millions of dollars into the project over the last eight years.
The Joondalup Performing Arts and Cultural Facility was expected to be ready for operation by July 2019, subject to funding approvals, and was set to include an 850-seat auditorium, a 200-seat secondary theatre, individual conference, rehearsal and exhibition spaces, a Jinan Chinese cultural garden, and an art gallery.
![An artist's impression of the Joondalup Performing Arts and Cultural Facility.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170704224325im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/0/b/c/o/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx0bfa.png/1498624979169.jpg)
The project was expected to create more than 600 jobs during construction, and more than 40 full time jobs per year after its construction.
The building was set to cost $99.7 million outright, with annual operating costs of around $863,000.
The project has been the subject of controversy in Perth's northern suburbs as local residents argued against its cost, the impact it would have on council rates, and the overall necessity of the facility in the Joondalup area.
Initial figures indicated households could be slugged an average of $55.27 per year for the project, and both the City of Wanneroo and the City of Stirling opted out of contributing to the cost of the facility.
The council held a meeting on Tuesday evening to determine whether or not to proceed with the construction of the JPACF, and ratepayers and councillors put forward their points of view in a fiery, nearly two-hour long debate.
At one point, a member of the public was threatened with arrest if he failed to leave the chamber after he interrupted Councillor Liam Gobbert's speech regarding the development.
Councillors eventually voted 6 - 7 not to proceed with the project, and the ongoing development was determined to be "fiscally irresponsible".
"Tonight we are faced with the decision that will most likely be one of the most important decisions we ever make as a collective body: that is, whether or not we take this project to the next phase," Councillor Tom McLean said.
"The money we are dealing with is not our money... it is ratepayers' money and we must do what the ratepayers need, not what we want."
However, the Council has already spent $2.4 million on feasibility studies, schematic designs and ongoing business cases relating to the proposal since 2009.
In the 2017-18 budget, $3.8 million was set aside for the JPACF's design development stage. The facility would have received $300,000 more than the City's capital works budget.
The further development stage would mean a further increase to rates, and Councillor John Chester said his constituents could not accept a further rate-hike in order to pay for a facility they would not use.
"I agree this project could be a grand one – but at this point in time, it's not a point of being bold, or grand, or innovating – it's just a matter of basic fiscal responsibility," he said.
Over the six week public consultation period, the City received 1542 responses to the proposal. This was after sending out thousands of public consultation forms in the Joondalup region.
48 per cent voted in support and 41.9 per cent opposed heading into the development stage.
The City of Joondalup determined this was not a clear enough mandate to continue with the project, and a number of residents expressed their frustration with the decision following the meeting.
They said they hoped the proposal could be further considered in the future, and hoped the City learned from the poor response it received from its public consultation attempt.