The Perth mother of a four-year-old girl who died of leukaemia at Princess Margaret Hospital has expressed her disappointment after the City of Nedlands voted against a proposal to build the state's first children's hospice.
Suzy Sadler said the proposed new hospice was needed because terminally-ill children should not have had to spend their last days in a clinical setting like a hospital.
Ms Sadler's daughter Eliza died in 2006.
"They are already missing out on so much that could have been ahead of them," she said.
"Don't they deserve to be surrounded by as much beauty as possible when they die?
On Tuesday, the City of Nedlands voted to oppose the new facility due to its oceanfront location on the Swanbourne foreshore, which councillors described as an "A-class reserve."
Last days of daughter's life
The new hospice would include seven rooms for children, several family suites, therapy rooms, a therapy pool, dining areas and outdoor play areas.
Ms Sadler said a non-clinical setting like a hospice would have drastically changed the last days of her daughter's life.
Eliza was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia four days after her fourth birthday.
The four-year-old lived at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) for seven months, including her last six weeks in intensive care.
'Critical family time'
Ms Sadler said she did not know if Eliza could have been transferred to a hospice due to her high-needs care, but she would have taken the opportunity had it been possible.
"There were other children and teenagers at PMH, who died while we were there, who needed medical support to die comfortably," Ms Sadler said.
"But who quite possibly could have had their last days or weeks in a setting that was not as clinical and, importantly, so much more conducive to have that really critical family time together."
The proposed project is a partnership between Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS) and the Perth Children's Hospital Foundation.
The project will now be submitted to the State Development Assessment Unit, which will make the final decision on whether it should proceed.
Minister says comments 'inappropriate'
The decision has drawn the ire of Local Government Minister John Carey, who lambasted the council for a "ludicrous" debate.
"For a councillor, and it wasn't just one but multiple councillors, to actually bring down the actual intention of the hospice by saying it's a white elephant or going to be office space with river views is completely inappropriate, and it is completely disrespectful," Mr Carey said.
Mr Carey said he was shocked by the comments of City of Nedlands councillor Andrew Mangano, who claimed the facility was too close to the army barracks and could be at risk of foreign attack.
Nedlands Acting Mayor responds
City of Nedlands acting Mayor Leo McManus said he disagreed with that councillor's comments "entirely".
"It's not a wise thing to say, in my opinion," Mr McManus said.
"It certainly wouldn't be classed as a target by anyone."
Rather, Mr McManus said his opposition to the facility — and the "main" reason overall — was the nature of the proposed location.
"A-class reserves are mainly bushland or sporting ovals, those kinds of things that are set aside for community use," he said.
"Bushland in city limits is protected pretty strongly.
"No-one ever thought they would be [taking] land out for other commercial-type purposes. Although this is a hospice, a different commercial-type business."
For Ms Sadler, moving Eliza to a hospice setting would have helped to maintain a sense of normalcy.
Although she said PMH staff went above and beyond to make Eliza's death bearable, Ms Sadler said the facility could not provide what a hospice could.
