{"id":861218,"date":"2026-08-19T20:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T20:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861218\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T20:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T20:50:14","slug":"alchemy-sauna-at-north-cottesloe-surf-club-recommended-by-local-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861218\/","title":{"rendered":"Alchemy sauna at North Cottesloe surf club recommended by local council"},"content":{"rendered":"

New pop-up saunas are a step closed to being developed at a prominent North Cottesloe beachside spot, after town administrators recommended local council conditionally support the project.<\/p>\n

City officers have recommended the council forward Alchemy Sauna\u2019s development application to the WA Planning Commission for approve, saying it would help activate the well-used but under-developed area on the North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club\u2019s ski shed roof.<\/p>\n

In a report to council ahead of next week\u2019s monthly meeting, city officers said extensive consultation has demonstrated significant community support for the development. It recommends the town now finalise a lease for the project. The proposed sub-lease would run for 10 years, and the facility would then be removed, unless a further new application was approved.<\/p>\n

Council has sought for years to better develop the ski shed roof and said the sauna satisfied key principles it had set out for the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cTown officers acknowledge that the character and use of the rooftop will change,\u201d the council report states.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever,the proposal retains and improves the majority of the public area, preserves the principal ocean view corridor and is not expected to result in unacceptable traffic or parking impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

If approved by the WA Planning Commission, the demountable saunas would be set up on the northern third of the roof area. The designs for the facility would maintain the remaining public space and preserve views of the beach from Marine Parade.<\/p>\n

\"CottesloeCamera IconCottesloe council will vote on endorsing a proposed sub-lease of the North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club\u2019s ski shed roof\u00a0\u2014 in the event the sauna gets the planning greenlight. Credit: Jake Dietsch\/PerthNow<\/p>\n

The saunas would be open seven days a week, cater to a maximum of 22 clients, and include lockers. Under proposed conditions attached to the proposal, the council would need to approve the colours and materials used in the sauna and the location of airconditioning units before Alchemy submits a building permit.<\/p>\n

The public spaces would also be upgraded as part of the redevelopment, to include new loose seating, shade, landscaping and better surfacing. Better drainage and lighting and a public water bottle filling station would also be included on the roof deck.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposal provides recreational and community benefits,\u201d officers said in a report to council.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposal presents an opportunity to enhance the foreshore experience while maintaining public access and delivering public realm improvements. The temporary and reversible nature of the sauna provides a sound basis for council to recommend conditional support to the Western Australian Planning Commission.\u201d<\/p>\n

The surf club first flagged hopes to develop the ski shed roof in 2022. It presented plans for the sauna to council in March last year and received five principals to guide any development.<\/p>\n

The council considered proposed commercial terms for the ski shed roof lease at a meeting in April this year, but left a decision open subject to feedback from its community consultations and finalised development approval.<\/p>\n

\"TheCamera IconThe Cottesloe foreshore. Credit: Supplied\/Perth Now<\/p>\n

Council noted the commercial operation would be rateable and that the town would receive rates income in addition to the commercial lease terms. The lease and sublease would provide a mechanism to address operational matters, risk,maintenance, indemnity, removal obligations and cost responsibilities.<\/p>\n

The council received 316 submissions via email and through an online survey – and a huge 4626 page views on the town\u2019s Engage website. About 72 per cent of the submissions supported the sauna going ahead. A cluster of objections was received from people living in apartments close to the ski shed roof.<\/p>\n

Some respondents raised issues for further consideration, including operating hours, parking, noise and privacy, although council officers said they believed concerns related to these issues were manageable within the existing development application.<\/p>\n

Those opposed to the development were mainly concerned that it would reduce the size of an already highly valued public gathering space, which is particularly well-used by customers of the nearby cafes.<\/p>\n

Town officers acknowledges that proposal would end the existing informal arrangement on the rooftop, but argued it would improve the quality, functionality and amenity of the space for the broader community and not just the sauna customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New pop-up saunas are a step closed to being developed at a prominent North Cottesloe beachside spot, after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,63,1625,135,44,84,105],"class_list":["post-861218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-government","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}