Canning council reveals decision on bikie gang’s ‘motorcycle-themed men’s shed’ application

Canning council has knocked back a notorious bikie gang’s request to turn their local clubhouse into a “motorcycle-themed men’s shed”. The West Australian reported in late February that the Bandidos Perth Chapter had lodged the development application with the City of Canning, seeking retrospective approval of its clubhouse on Kembla Way in Willetton. The application was made after a police raid in May last year that drew the attention of council authorities. Former police officer, turned Canning mayor, Patrick Hall, strongly objected to the gang’s application at the time. Councillors voted unanimously to reject the Bandidos’ development application at last week’s council meeting, after debating an item to reconsider the club’s application. The city received 67 public submissions on the application - 64 of them objected to the club’s proposal. Mr Hall disclosed an impartiality interest in the item due to his past comments. “Previous comments I’ve made publicly in relation to the Bandidos’ outlaw motorcycle club may be perceived by others as demonstrating a degree of apprehended bias. That’s not the case,” he said. “I’m fully aware and accepting of my responsibility to deal with all planning matters in a quasi-judicial manner, having regard only to the facts of the matter and assessing them against the relevant planning framework.” He urged councillors to support the officer’s recommendation to refuse the application. “The officer’s recommendation has appropriately considered the impacts on amenity of residential properties within close proximity of the site, and (it) aligns and responds to the views received from the community during the advertising process,” he said. “The proposed development is incompatible with the intended future character of the locality, and will have a significant detrimental impact on surrounding land.” According to the report, the club premises would accommodate up to 100 patrons with proposed 24-hour weekend operations. Cr Michelle Hurn said controlling the behaviour of this many people, particularly with alcohol involved, was “unrealistic”. “There is no genuine and binding commitment to manage noise once the application is approved,” she said. “Responsibility then falls on local residents and the city officers to manage noise compliance. “If the premises were on the opposite side of the road, the application would have been stronger as the proximity to residential housing is the key issue in my consideration.” The club, accused of leading police on a dangerous freeway pursuit earlier this year, made the request in a desperate bid to stop its club house from being shut down. In January, the club saw 18 members charged by police, and their bikes seized following an alleged dangerous pursuit on the Kwinana Freeway. The club is an identified organisation under WA criminal law but their planning application makes clear that their ‘men’s shed’ proposal is “considered to clearly meet the scheme land-use definition of ‘club premises’.” In its application, prepared by Planning Outcomes WA, the bikie club sought approval to host 60 members or family at the ‘men’s shed’, with up to 100 guests for occasional events, which would not have been open to the public. It proposed operating the club between 8am-10pm Monday to Friday for deliveries, occasional cleaning and set-up, while on weekends, meetings would run from 5.30pm on Fridays to 6pm on Sundays. It asked that motorcycle fans will have access to a BYO bar and said the club hoped to apply for a liquor licence in the future. “There are not, and will not be, any firearms or firearm safes on the premises,” the Bandidos reassured in the application. Ahead of the council’s decision, the club had urged council staff to consider their “human right under international treaty to freedom of association”. “There is an understandable tendency at first glance to regard the Bandidos MC as an ‘outlaw gang’ and therefore planning approval cannot or should not be granted for their clubrooms,” the application says. “However, the fact is that the mere existence of the club is not illegal.” The Bandidos said they were willing to meet with neighbours to discuss any proposals outlined in the application. Local planning and development regulations, which were used to asses the Bandidos application, states a club premises means it is “used by a legally constituted club or association or other body of persons united by a common interest”. In its application, the Bandidos MC claimed they were “clearly a body of persons united by a common interest of motorcycles”. “If any crimes have been committed, or will in the future (crystal-balling), it is the individuals (not the club) that are investigated by WAPOL (not local government), they have legal rights to procedural fairness, and are presumed innocent until found guilty by a court.” Mr Hall said ahead of the council’s decision last week that his “hands might be tied” if the clubhouse met the planning laws. He called on the State Government to intervene and update the laws and said the definition of a club premises under planning laws needed to be urgently reviewed. “We can’t do this by ourselves. We need a full-court press,” Mr Hall said. “We are standing up against a national, if not international crime gang. If the planning application complies with the current laws, it is likely to pass. “You can’t have WA claiming to have the toughest anti-consorting laws in Australia, but at the same time, allow it to happen behind closed doors. It wasn’t the government’s intent for this to happen, but the door needs to be shut on it. “We need to use every lever available to us to stop this . . . we need to give these gangs no place to hide.” The Bandidos ‘men’s shed’ on Kembla Way first drew the attention of police and council staff last year when community members reports seeing “patched” members gathering from around Australia near the venue. Following the raid, two people were charged. Mr Hall took to social media at the time to say it was the first he had heard of the outlaw gang gathering in the city. A planning application was subsequently lodged after a directions notice and a building order for land-use and a sea-container on the property, was issued by council.