The Guildford Association says it only points out inconsistencies when people are acting outside of the City of Swan’s policies to protect Guildford, and refutes any suggestion it contributed to the closure of Poste Café.

In Poste Café owners explain their decision to close (Echo News, June 7) Guildford businessman Michael Noonan said negativity towards their business by the Guilford Association and the City of Swan contributed towards their decision to close.

Mr Noonan also cited the call for a judicial review of the decision to approve redevelopment of the old Guildford vaudeville theatre reported in Review of JDAP decision sought in Supreme Court (Echo News, February 9) as another factor.

The Guildford Association refuted Mr Noonan’s claims and said the association had no role or influence in the closure of Poste Café.

Guildford Association president Claire Scanlan said the decision to close Poste Café was made by the owners.

“Any submissions the association made to the City of Swan over Poste Café’s development applications were based on the City of Swan’s own Guildford conservation policy, and relevant to the association’s constitution,’’ she said.

“This is not negativity – it’s simply called process.

“Poste had to answer to the City of Swan, not the Guildford Association.’’

She said the new committee formed in October had been working hard for all of the community, including businesses with a tourism promotion in the pipeline.

“We’re just revamping a lot of stuff we’ve got our brand new newsletters out now, we’ve got some wonderful positive things happening, we’re working really hard to rebuild our reputation in the community because there’s been so many negative things said over so many years and I don’t believe they are fair.’’

She said the association had made a submission on the vaudeville theatre, which was objective and based on policy.

“We generally as a rule do not object nor support an application (but) simply put in a submission pointing out where it does and doesn’t fit in within the city’s planning guidelines – from the R codes and the local area policies – that’s what we do,’’ she said.

On June 7 the City of Swan said it wanted local businesses to thrive, but it also had a legal obligation to make sure businesses were brought into compliance with planning laws.

Swan chief executive officer Stephen Cain said city staff had sought to work collaboratively with the café owners providing guidance and extensions along the way. “It was the decision of the owners not to lodge the development application that could have resolved their non-compliance,’’ he said.