A SPRAWLING six-building village of hotel rooms, apartments, offices, shops and venues will replace the Newcastle Street block currently dominated by the dormant City Motors car yard in the West Perth Pickle District.  APPL Group’s $107 million project, dubbed Sydney Charles Quarter after the car yard founder, had largely won the support of locals and…

JAZZ is still cool, with hundreds rocking up to Hyde Park for the annual Jazz Picnic in the Park over the weekend. The New Orleans-style parade and jam capped off the city-centric portion of the 2023 Perth International Jazz Festival, so you’ll have to head to the South-West for any more jazz shows like the…

RE-NAME or dual-name? The future moniker of Banks Reserve is up for public debate after local Aboriginal elders called for its Noongar name to be restored. In August Vincent councillors voted to go ask the public about the Noongar naming.  The strip of river along Mount Lawley was dubbed Banks Reserve in 1963 after former…

A PILOTLESS pilot project using drones to eradicate mosquitos has proven so effective Bayswater council is looking to rent out its bots to other mozzy-ridden municipalities. For the past 18 months Bayswater has used drones to map out terrain and target mosquitoes in hard-to-reach marshy or overgrown areas (“Bots v bugs,” Voice, March 26, 2022).…

A 24-HOUR drug crisis centre planned for Stuart Street opposite Robertson Park has attracted a wave of objections over safety and amenity. Not-for-profit drug and alcohol treatment provider Cyrenian House has applied to open an “Immediate Drug Assistance Coordination Centre” at 37-43 Stuart Street, part of a WA government initiative funded by the Mental Health…

WA’S FIRST public hydrogen refuelling station is on track to open on Perth council-owned land on Thomas Street.  The deal’s reached an agreement-in-principle stage and is still subject to approvals and a “final investment decision”, but lord mayor Basil Zempilas is enthusiastic about the project.  “Hydrogen-fuelled cars are predicted to grow in popularity over the…

THE Joy of Wood isn’t a viagra promotion for seniors, but a woodwork educator that has taken over the Stirling Women’s Shed in Scarborough. Since teaming up with Stirling Council, Joy of Wood has hosted workshops for women of all ages and abilities, including classes on how to make trinket boxes, bespoke wooden Xmas decorations…