Perth Voice Interactive

Perth city council, August 6, 2013

SOLID GOLD jewellers will be made to pull down an unauthorised sign it erected on a heritage building in the Hay Street Mall. At Tuesday’s meeting Perth city councillors unanimously ordered the vertical sign be removed. “It would set an undesirable precedent for similar signage on the heritage facade,” Cr Rob Butler says. Cr Lyndon Rodgers says the PCC is working hard to “activate” second-storey sites and councillors hope a compromise can be reached with more heritage-sympathetic signage. The art deco building was built around 1922 or 1923, replacing an older store destroyed by the great fires of January 1921.

THE $8 million facelift of Carillon Arcade (Voice August 3, 2013) was given the thumbs up. Word on the street is British fashion giant Topshop is eyeing up the upgraded arcade, along with Spanish clothier Zara (recently criticised for inhumane sweatshop conditions, with three unregistered factories closed in Argentina according to lefty news site Equal Times). Cr James Limnios says the big retailers do due diligence and economic modelling and if they’re moving into Perth it’s a seal of approval for the city’s strong economy.

PERTH will once more be home to a helipad with a river-based pontoon picked as the most likely option for chopper touchdowns. “You can’t be a global capital city without a helipad,” Cr Limnios says. “We have a few billionaires in this state who need to come in and out of the city to do business.” A helipad was on the foreshore in the mid ‘80s during the America’s cup but it was pulled out about 10 years ago. Another temporary pad was pulled out of East Perth when the Waterbank development kicked off in 2011. The PCC will ask for expressions of interest from commercial operators to get on board, conceding the council has no experience with these things and it’s best managed by the invisible hand of the market.

EAST PERTH venue Devilles Pad has picked up an inaugural PCC customer service award. The awards were started by lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi as part of her war on rudeness. The fiery hell-themed over-25s bar picked up the award after being voted into the top spot by punters who say its customer service goes the extra mile.