Published on Thursday, 5 March 2020 at 1:31:53 PM

The City of Vincent has received a petition from community group Friends of ANZAC Cottage to facilitate their return to ANZAC Cottage, unencumbered by any other group.

We greatly value the fantastic community work of the Friends of ANZAC Cottage and would love for them to continue this role from ANZAC Cottage.

However, the City of Vincent is not legally able to meet the request of the petition due to the history of ownership of the Cottage, a long term lease and a caveat on the land title.

The lessee, Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia WA (VVAA WA) has informed the City that they do not wish to relinquish the lease and that they will carry out community engagement, including continuing open days, holding ceremonies and liaising with the local school.

The City of Vincent had gone to great lengths to try to resolve the issues between Friends of ANZAC Cottage and VVAA WA, including entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the two community groups in June 2018.

I would very much welcome the Friends to continue their work and for the two groups to coexist, and the offer remains for us to provide mediation and support from the City of Vincent for this to resume.

It is a priority for us that this important, treasured monument remains open and accessible to both our community and for visitors from far afield. The City of Vincent will continue to support community engagement activities at the Cottage so everyone can appreciate its significance.

Best wishes,

Mayor Emma Cole

ANZAC Cottage history, ownership and leasing arrangement:

• The Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia WA (VVAA WA) hold a long term lease over the Cottage, in recognition of the role of VVAA WA in saving the Cottage and extensively renovating it in the 1990s.
• The VVAA WA took ownership of the very rundown cottage in 1991. In cooperation with experts who formed the Anzac Cottage Restoration Group, a grant from the Lotteries Commission, financial assistance from the Department of Conservation and Heritage and Department of Veterans Affairs, plus the generosity of many donors, the VVAAWA restored the building as closely as possible to its original condition. This process took ten years.
• The VVAA WA gifted ANZAC Cottage to the City of Vincent in 2006 on the condition it was leased back to the group, with peppercorn rent payable, to 2041 or until the dissolution of the VVAA WA. The reason for the gifting to Vincent was that the VVAA WA did not want the Cottage to be lost to the community beyond the natural life of their organisation.
• A caveat on the title of the property secured the 36 year lease, providing extra legal protection of the lease over the property.
• ANZAC Cottage is inspected by the City of Vincent annually and the overall condition of the property is very good. The VVAA WA have recently given an undertaking to increase watering times for the lawn.

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