Bold plan for Cottesloe groyne
Ambitious: How the Cottesloe groyne could look. Illustration: Supplied
Cottesloe mayor Jo Dawkins says she is "keeping an open mind" to an ambitious plan to build a pier and restaurant at the end of the Cottesloe groyne.
The proposed development, to be built 30m off the rocky groyne if it gets the necessary approvals, includes a restaurant, function room, public jetties for fishing and boating, an underwater observatory, a lookout tower and a luxury honeymoon suite in the building's roof space.
Architect and long-time Cottesloe resident Lawrence Scanlan, who designed the beach's famous Indiana restaurant, is hoping to win public support for his plans after he presented them to local councillors on Wednesday.
Ms Dawkins said the proposal was ambitions. While councillors remained open-minded, they would treat it with caution.
She said their main concerns centred on the availability of parking and whether Cottesloe beach could sustain another restaurant.
She said the two-hour briefing to councillors had been "very professional" but there were many practical considerations that needed to be looked at and worked through.
"We had a lot of questions, such as parking, delivery of goods to and from, waste disposal, whether the elements will impact on it out there and how the build will be very specialised," Ms Dawkins said. "If it's viable, that's fantastic, but if it's not we don't really want a building stuck out in the middle of the ocean."
Mr Scanlan, who has been working on the project for three years, said Cottesloe shut down too early and a "low-key, iconic" development would give the local community and tourists something else to do.
He said an area between the jetties would be enclosed to form a shark-proof swimming area and the lookout would be made available to Surf Life Saving WA.
He believed the parking issues could be resolved.
Mr Scanlan said he and eight local business people had formed Cottesloe Pier Pty Ltd and they would fund the project, which was expected to cost about $14 million. "It's not the best development project in the world in terms of profitability, but we've a group of like-minded people who believe passionately that the project is good for Cottesloe and good for WA," he said.
"But it's going to be something hard to get through the system - not because no one wants it, but because it's outside the box."
Source: Yahoo News - 8th November 2014
