Perth Voice Interactive

Brickworks sell-off plan revived

AN unpopular plan to sell part of the Maylands brickworks for real estate development has been revived after other options proved too expensive.

The defunct brickworks have been closed for about 35 years and are now owned by cash-strapped Bayswater council, which hasn’t been able to afford the various plans to restore or adapt the buildings for community use which have been floated in the past five years.

A majority of locals along with community group Friends of Maylands Brickworks oppose selling off any land for residential development, soundly rejecting four such plans put forward by the state heritage department in 2018.

Now Bayswater council is considering a new business case looking at bare-minimum conservation work (costed at about $2 million), restoring them for community use like heritage tours (about $5.8m) or full adaptions for commercial uses like a café (costing about $20m). 

They’re all too expensive for Bayswater council to afford on its own, so at a closed-door, un-minuted councillor briefing in April, some councillors wanted to reconsider the old plan to sell part of the brickworks land or adapt some of the old buildings for medium-density housing.

They suggested going back to the community to see if some residential development might be acceptable now the indicative restoration costs had come in.

The western part of the brickworks that hosts the kiln and drying shed is zoned “medium and high density residential”. 

About 20 to 30 units could fit in the remaining open space if the kiln and shed were kept, and up to 60 units would fit if those buildings were demolished, or a few less if they’re adapted into apartments.

This week the council received a barrage of letters and spoken deputations swiftly opposing the land sale plan 2.0.

“’No’ to any business or residential development on or near the Maylands Brickworks,” Kathryn Lance, a local and Friend of Maylands Brickworks, wrote in a deputation.

“It is a heritage building and should be respected and treated as such. It should be restored for community purposes.”

She said the money spent on another round of consultation should instead just be spent on restoration.

Resident John Della told councillors at their June 20 briefing he was concerned the council looked like it might go back on its previous decision not to sell the land for housing. 

“The parks around the brickworks are also an important part of the ecosystem of the lakes,” and he feared local wildlife such as snake-neck turtles would be threatened by a housing development.

Only one councillor questioned the plan at the June 20 information briefing; Elli Petersen-Pik, a ward councillor for that area who also publicly spoke out against reviving the sell-off plan in the leadup to the meeting.

“I have strong concerns about this proposal,” Cr Petersen-Pik wrote via social media. 

“This is a drastic and sudden change of direction for the project and it goes against the decision of the previous council from 2019 to prepare a business plan to look into alternate uses, specifically excluding residential uses, to reactivate the site and possible funding sources.”

No other councillor posed any questions at the briefing, and they’ll vote on whether to refloat the sale plan on June 27.

by DAVID BELL