Perth Voice Interactive

“YOU’RE neglecting the community,” Dudley Maier told Vincent council this week.

The former veteran councillor labelled community consultation over the Beaufort Street arcade development as abysmal.

He pointed out that according to the council’s own map of who had been sent a consultation form, council carparks had been sent four.

Several mistakes in the report would’ve seen the developer have to pay an extra $20,000 in cash-in-lieu for missing car bays, he said. Corrections were made on the fly.

Upset with the council’s consultation effort, Mr Maier printed 70 flyers himself to let locals know they should “contact your council members before Tuesday’s meeting and voice your concerns about the lack of consultation and the potential for this development to have a negative impact on parking in your street, particularly at night”.

He says he thinks it’s a good development, but cash-in-lieu for missing carbays shouldn’t be waived, as it could be used as a bargaining tool to get more retail instead of more bars.

Cr Emma Cole, who’d run for council on a platform of improving community consultation, conceded letters to carparks was “not our finest hour”.

“I think it’s fair criticism,” Mayor John Carey noted. He said 75 letters were issued and a review was underway into expanding the consultation footprint.