Liam Bartlett, a reporter for Star 60 Minutes, has persuaded the council that the balconies of his neighbours shouldn’t be covered with transparent glass so that he won’t have to see their pushbikes and laundry.
Keeping the frosted glass on the balcony balustrades of four residences next to the TV star’s property was approved by Nedlands Council in Perth on Tuesday by a vote of seven to four, according to The West Australian.
Geoff Nathan, one of the owners who lives next door to Mr. Bartlett, said that he and the three other house owners will file an appeal with the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT), as they felt they had a “strong case.”
Nedlands Council backed the lifting of the requirement, which had been in place since May 2021, for all the residences on the property.
The apartment owners had said they would accept to frosted glass on the top level of their apartments provided they could preserve clear glass on the lower panels in an effort to reach a compromise with the 60 Minutes reporter and 6PR presenter.
However, Mr. Bartlett objected to the use of transparent glass. He had previously informed the council that he didn’t want to have to see his neighbours’ bicycles or laundry on their balconies.
In a previous council meeting, Mr. Bartlett said that he had lost parking places and that the construction had brought “more bins and less amenities” to the neighbourhood where he resided.
According to PerthNow, Mr. Bartlett’s home was elevated behind a wall and had four windows that looked out onto the new construction.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like seeing people’s balconies, bikes, laundry, or anything else they want to put up there, or what they’re doing behind their balconies, he added.
The suggestion to permit transparent glass, according to Mr. Bartlett, was “beyond the pale.”
He also made fun of the media coverage of the incident, alleging that it had compared him to Thurston Howell III from Gilligan’s Island and Genghis Khan.
He told the council, “It does have an influence on our home, on our windows, on our garden, on our backyard, full stop.”
In a letter to the mayor, Fiona Argyle, Mr. Nathan said that the lack of transparent glass would clearly reduce the amount of natural light available in their houses and that the judgement in Mr. Bartlett’s favour would create a dangerous precedent.
Does it imply that those council members would abstain from voting if it is claimed that there is overlooking from a glass balcony? he questioned.
Additionally, he said that the frosted glass used for the balustrades did not “look nice” with the flats.
The cost of further SAT proceedings to the council is predicted to range between $30,000 and $50,000.