Perth Voice Interactive

IT’S been a long road and a year-and-a-half of paperwork but the future of the Vastese Bakery in North Perth is safe.

The Alma Road bakery has been in the Saraceni family since 1961, baking for cafes, restaurants and boutique retailers, along with selling locals their daily bread.

But in 2011 someone complained about the bakery selling coffee.

That had Vincent council’s paper-pushers poring over ancient documents where they discovered the bakery’s office and storage area weren’t allowed under that zoning. They also found the bakery wasn’t allowed to sell bread directly to customers.

Joe Saraceni—the third generation to work in the business—says without an office onsite it would have been tough to run the bakery. The future of the bakery and its 18 employees was in doubt.

“It would have been extremely difficult,” he says. “This business is very hands-on, it’s labour intensive. The office has its finger on the pulse.

“To not have that would have really affected the culture and traditionality of the business.”

Last week Vincent councillors unanimously voted to allow the bakery to continue operating as it always has, and it’ll now go off to the planning minister for final approval.

“It did take a long time,” Mr Saraceni says, but he adds the councillors were “extremely progressive and very helpful… I have nothing but praise for the councillors”.

He describes new planning director Carlie Elridge as very helpful.

A couple of locals were concerned about noise but Mr Saraceni says he’s told his workers to cut out any early morning sailor talk. 

The bakery was started by Guiseppe Saraceni in 1958: He’d come to Australia from Vasto in 1951 and worked at the old Maylands brickyards before leaving in 1957 to start home deliveries of Italian bread. He wasn’t happy with the quality of the product he was given so he started his own bakery

Originally on Newcastle Street, the bakery moved to Alma Road in 1961. 

Tony Saraceni, who’s been working there since he was seven, has seen plenty of change in the area.

“That area was virtually all migrants… there wasn’t one Australian family. It was all Italians, Greeks, Macedonians, Croatians. Now they’ve all shifted out and the younger generation has come in.”

by DAVID BELL