MELVILLE council is looking to water down sustainability requirements in Applecross and Mount Pleasant after developers complained they’re too hard to achieve.

Adopted in March this year, the Canning Bridge structure plan mandated that standard developments must achieve a five-star sustainability rating, while developers seeking additional height must strive for six stars.

Council staff have determined the standards to be “challenging” and “not impossible” but nevertheless recommend they be wound back a star each.

Developers complained the requirements were especially hard to meet for individual apartments.

“It is concluded that the star ratings identified in the CBSP sustainability requirement are proving difficult to achieve and have been set at [a] benchmark not yet achieved elsewhere in Australia,” strategic planner Gavin Ponton reported to council.

His report noted that under the rating system, run by the Green Building Council of Australia, if any building had achieved six stars, it would have been considered a world leader.

Mr Ponton says applications already submitted to the council were difficult to assess because a variety of systems had been used. He wants the council to stick to GBC’s version, arguing it’s industry-driven and run by a non-profit organisation.

Curtin University sustainability professor Peter Newman agrees six-star residential towers are a big ask.

Hesitant to support the council because of its “stupid” support of the Perth Freight Link, he believes the strict requirements do risk driving away developers.

“There aren’t any residential towers in Perth with a six-star rating,” he told the Herald. “There are some office developments which have six, but most usually give up at five. But if you’re getting five stars for residential, that’s pretty good.”

While reviewing the sustainability ratings, the council also found ways to mandate the planting of more trees, in an effort to combat the “heat island effect”.

by STEVE GRANT