THE next time some bloke sporting long white socks, sandals and a clipboard turns up and says you can’t build that backyard shed, or your pool fence is too low, just mention the two words sure to steam up those Coke-bottle glasses; 3 Oceans.

Strictly speaking, 3 is a number, but hey, stay with me here.

Camera Icon Tony Barrass Credit: The Sunday Times

Scarborough’s very own $450 million double-headed monster — two towers with a combined height of 76 storeys — has been given the go-ahead.

Apart from the 43-storey and 33-storey pylons — the main one will be the fourth tallest structure in WA – there will be 314 residential apartments, a 119-room hotel with conference facilities, 720 car parking bays, shops, art galleries, restaurants and a public viewing deck.

However, as a long-time resident and supporter of the recent $150 million Scarborough redevelopment, I am not alone in feeling a sense of unease over the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority’s call.

The redevelopment had been a model collaboration between the MRA, Stirling City Council, Department of Transport, Main Roads, local businesses, and most importantly, the local community. Sure, there were a few punch-ups along the way, but even the most strident NIMBYs realised the time had come to clean up the old girl.

A sensible Scarborough Master Plan was born after input from all stakeholders in a bid to create a lively, people-friendly hub to showcase what could be one of Perth’s best seaside suburbs. The concept was clear and everyone agreed; developers, government agencies, local council, the business sector and the community.

The master plan had a height cap on development — 12 storeys, plus an additional six under certain circumstances — just eclipsing Alan Bond’s dodgy old 16-storey creation now known as Rendezvous.

The plan has created a world-class skate park, a wonderful swimming pool, restaurants, bars, and new surf club. Scarborough has finally come of age, and there is a real sense of pride returning to the suburb.

Enter the dragon, or at least Chinese-owned 3 Oceans. Their proposal, lodged in May last year, stunned locals.

Camera Icon The revised Scarborough twin towers plan that has been given the green light. Credit: by Hillam Architects

In December, the MRA dismissed the plan outright, deciding it was “inconsistent” with a whole range of its own guidelines, describing it as a “significant overdevelopment” of the site.

But two months ago, the MRA received a revised plan that to the untrained eye was hardly different to the first one; it simply shaved three storeys off the second steeple, made them both a little thinner, and bended to a couple of concessions in the number of apartments and parking bays.

Some locals were even more gobsmacked when Premier Mark McGowan effectively urged the MRA to tear up an unprecedented compact it had made with the Scarborough community, saying the development should get the go ahead and will deliver “jobs, jobs, jobs, life, excitement, vitality”.

The proposal had another powerful Labor ally in the CFMEU, which had already submitted to the MRA a 347-strong petition backing the plan.

As colleague Gary Adshead recently revealed, 3 Oceans also coughed up $25,000 to join Labor’s Leaders’ Forum, where participants can snuggle up to Government ministers and have a bitch about whatever they like.

As is demanded under the MRA Act, the Scarborough Land Redevelopment Committee was formed. Its job, generally speaking, was to listen and report to the MRA with recommendations and weighing up all options from all sides.

The committee heard all comers. Even Stirling City Council, normally the big, bad guy around these parts, rattled off a raft of issues it had with waste, amenity, traffic management, parking, landscaping, and design concerns.

In its recommendation handed to the MRA board at its June 26 meeting, the committee recommended the board overturn its original decision.

It argued that the revised application had achieved design excellence, reduced “intensity” and “the quantum of car parking” and provided “multiple community benefits”.

“On balance, the revised proposal would contribute positively to the development and future amenity of Scarborough area and on its merits should be approved,” the committee declared. The MRA board agreed and decided to overturn its original decision.

I did a pub test the other day during a very rare visit to my Scarborough local.

Big Craig was happy about it because as a builder he has already had “the call” from a contractor. Lindsay and Macca also say bring it on.

But many others, like me, feel that somehow the rules of engagement everyone agreed to in the first place have been thrown off the top of Tower One.

The MRA has done some good work around this town, but there are a fair few Scarborough locals who, rightly or wrongly, believe that while the rules may have been strictly adhered to, the spirit of them definitely hasn’t.