FAMILIES facing the closure of Citiplace Child Care Centre fear months of disruption as they scramble to find new places, and those needing occasional care or with younger kids may not find placements at all.  The 53 families who use the centre were taken by surprise when Perth council went behind closed doors and decided…

Picky garbos won’t take Michael’s bins STRICT rules around FOGO bins are turning some residents against the system after being punished for other people tossing the wrong rubbish in their bins. Across Bayswater and Vincent we’ve heard of rubbish going uncollected because a recycling bin has a pizza box in it that’s deemed too oily,…

STRUGGLING global supply chains have made for delays but with a bit of luck Beatty Park’s water slides will be ready for action during the school holidays. Vincent council’s spending about $3.4 million upgrading the centre and most was finished in August last year.  But the waterslides aren’t manufactured in Australia and there were lengthy…

FEDERAL Perth Labor MP Patrick Gorman has deemed last Tuesday’s federal Budget a “cash-splash” lacking a long-term plan beyond poll day. Prime minister Scott Morrison announced a May 21 election this week, on the back of a Budget described by treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s as “responsible and targeted” assistance to help Joe Average cope with the…

REFUGEES and supporters gathered in Perth on Palm Sunday to welcome the release of two refugees from Perth Immigration Detention Centre, and called for an end to government’s “harsh” stance keeping people in detention or on fragile temporary visas. The two refugees released last week had come from Iran and spent six years on Manus…

HEADLINES predicting $7 cups of coffee by the end of the year – and the resultant carnage in cafe strips like Leederville or Mt Lawley – might have little more substance than the froth on a skinny cap. While there have undoubtedly been price rises forced by global supply disruption and the rising cost of…

CARS queuing for Covid tests are clogging Mount Hawthorn. The long lines have left residents unhappy with the noise, blocked driveways, and pollution from cars idling near their homes.  The testing clinic is on Oxford Street, but to avoid causing chaos at the street’s busy intersections drivers have been directed to queue on the other…

Parents up in arms CITY parents say they’ve been left in the lurch after Perth council decided to shut the Citiplace Childcare Centre without first consulting them. The 33-year-old centre will close in September following a behind closed doors decision by councillors on March 29. The item was opaquely titled “service review”. The review was…

THE nasty tree-killing polyphagous shot-hole borer has been spotted in Hyde Park, infesting at least five trees so far. The mysterious insect’s origin was unknown but it was first identified attacking Sri Lankan tea plantations in 1868. WA kept the tiny bug out of our borders for a long while but it was first reported in…

A LONG-AWAITED wall will now be built at Beatty Park Reserve to prevent flooding of nearby homes, following a years-long campaign by residents. Homes just north of the reserve were flooded in the bad storm of 2010 when drains couldn’t cope, and water’s threatened properties in some of the rainier years since (Voice, April 2,…