City of Kwinana issued building permit that allowed Sutton Farm destruction five days before heritage listing

One of Wellard’s pioneer families has been left heartbroken after a heritage-listed building they previously owned was torn down. The current owners of Sutton Farm on Bertram Road were given approval on February 4, 2022, to tear down the 100-year-old cottage on the property, just five days before the City of Kwinana listed it as a heritage building. Two years later, just as a demolition permit was about to expire, the cottage was bulldozed. A more modern shed and old stables further back on the property still stand. Natalie Cooke, great-granddaughter of William Sutton, who was the original occupier of the cottage, was heartbroken to discover the cottage had been destroyed. “It’s just devastating to know it’s gone,” she said. Ms Cooke believes the heritage-listed cottage was demolished before the building permit ran out to make it easier for the property owners to sell the site. The 77,996sqm lot is currently listed for sale under 101 Bertram Road in Wellard for more than $9.3m. An artist’s impression of a subdivision shows the land split into 146 smaller housing lots. Ms Cooke’s aunt Cathy Cockeram revealed her mum’s ashes were spread on the property. “I’ve worked in the secretarial industry for years; when you have a shire meeting you do an agenda seven days before and everybody knows what’s going to be on that agenda,” she said. “Yet (the City of Kwinana) approve on the 4th the demolition order on a property (they) know is going to be listed on the 9th. “(The City of Kwinana) said they got the (demolition) order in before we listed it and there’s nothing we can do about it. “They’re hiding behind that right to approve.” The descendants said if they knew the cottage was going to be demolished, they would have tried to stop it. In a local heritage survey by the City of Kwinana in 2021, the cottage was described as having “historic value as the surviving prototype of the Soldier Settlement dwellings, demonstrating the modest living conditions endured by many early settlers”. “The place is associated with the implementation of the Soldier Settlement Scheme on the Peel Estate in the 1920s, which, although generally considered a failure, contributed to the early development of farming and settlement at Wellard,” it said. The family hoped a park would be built in the subdivision and named after the Suttons. Ms Cooke said the City of Kwinana flagged that the Crown-owned swampland behind the development would be named Sutton Reserve after her great-grandfather. A City of Kwinana spokesperson said the building permit that allowed the demolition could not be revoked once it was issued. “Heritage buildings are extremely important in the City of Kwinana,” they said. “However, in the instance of the Sutton Farm House, the correct process was followed by the city. “Inclusion on the Heritage List does not prevent a building being demolished. “While it does trigger an assessment of the heritage values of the site and structure to be undertaken, it does not preclude it from potentially being demolished following an assessment of what needs to be protected or preserved to reflect the heritage significance of the site or building.” Ms Cooke said she had approached the developer to see if any parts of the building had been salvaged but was told there was nothing left. The City of Kwinana confirmed it was also working with the developer to see if there were any salvageable elements. “However, it is understood that the building was infested with white ants which might impact the ability to rescue and restore these elements,” the spokesperson said.