Premier Roger Cook urges opponents of children’s hospice parkland development to put politics aside

The Premier has urged opponents of a park planned to brighten the view of terminally-sick kids at Perth’s first children’s hospice to have a “sense of humanity”. A planned park development next to the site earmarked for a children’s hospice has continued to come under fire, with a pamphlet shared around Swanbourne claiming the parcel of A-class reserve was “under threat” and being “targeted by the WA Government”. The pamphlet purporting to be from a group called Friends of Allen Park said the park was the “only public access” to the coast and “could be lost to building expansion and public access prevented forever”. The State Government has set the ball rolling to excise the land after the City of Nedlands opposed the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation’s $4 million plans because of concerns it would lose its A-class reserve status. After a 30-day period — that expires within days — the plan goes to Parliament, where it is expected to be approved. Ahead of the plans reaching Parliament, Premier Roger Cook urged the City of Nedlands and the community to put politics aside and have a sense of humanity. “The hospice is about providing services to the sickest kids in our community, some who are facing life limiting diseases and will have a short time with us,” he said. “It’s about helping their parents, it’s about providing them with relief and a sense of humanity must enter this debate. “Please just allow this project to go forward and let it be a celebration of the way we care for our sickest kids, not an opportunity for people to try to prosecute some sort of local political agenda.” Mr Cook said the park would provide an opportunity to enhance the environment and the public would be able to move freely through the area. Liberal Cottesloe MP Sandra Brewer said she had sought and received written assurances from the PCHF after listening closely to the concerns of local stakeholders, including the Friends of Allen Park and the City of Nedlands. She said the PCHF wrote assurances that the land would always remain publicly accessible, be developed exclusively as a park for recreation, and involve community input on landscaping and design. “This proposal gives terminally ill children the simple joy and dignity of a backyard — a rehabilitated bushland space that remains accessible to the entire community,” Ms Brewer said. “It is a compassionate and community-driven initiative — not a loss, but a meaningful gain for Swanbourne and the broader community. “Class ‘A’ status is not a prohibition — it is a standard. It demands that any change must deliver demonstrable public value. I believe that, in this case, that standard is being upheld.” Shadow Minister for Planning and Lands Neil Thomson MLC also expressed in-principle support for the initiative, provided it is underpinned by strong community consultation and protections against inappropriate future land use.