EVEN Vincent’s Big Blue Head got masked up in line with the state’s Covid decree. Artist Sarah Chopra’s mask addition for Ken Sealey’s “Beseech” sculpture on Loftus Street is one of the projects funded by Vincent council’s “arts relief grants” from last year.  $151,000 was spread across 16 projects aimed at supporting artists as their usual gigs…

HYDE PARK’S surrounding residents have come to the defence of the park’s grass, saying it’s disappearing under an onslaught of gravel and ivy. At Vincent council’s February 9 AGM of electors, resident Ron Alexander estimated there was “700 per cent more gravel in Hyde Park” compared to five years ago.  Paul Kotsoglo says the council’s…

PLANS for a skate and scooter park in Mount Hawthorn has been warmly welcomed to cater for a boom of tweens in the suburb. Perth state Labor MP John Carey raised the idea last year and has now finished a survey asking locals if they like the plan and their preferred spot. While Bayswater council’s…

A NEW pedestrian crossing’s been pledged for Charles Street near the corner of Albert Street – one of the inner-suburbs’ least walker-friendly roads. The 24-hour green light crossing will go where the old school crossing used to be. Residents have been calling for something to be done to make it less hostile for pedestrians as the…

FORMER mayor Nick Catania was back in Vincent chambers this week urging the council to continue picking up business rubbish bins. The one-time shadow police minister told the current council it would cost traders too much to switch to another collector. Last September the council voted to cancel commercial collection as of mid-2021. The move…

A SEVEN-STOREY apartment to be built over Maylands’ former Lyric Theatre on Eighth Avenue has been approved. The development assessment panel’s approval allowing demolition of the roof, interior, and parts of the theatre’s external walls while keeping the front facade, pokes a couple of holes in Bayswater council’s “category 2” heritage ranking bestowed on the…

SCHOOL going back can be one of the hardest times of year for struggling families as they try to send kids out the door with everything they need. As schools went back a week late, Northbridge-based Women’s Health & Family Services ran their yearly event providing free haircuts, backpacks, lunch boxes and drink bottles for…

THE amount of cash Vincent council invests with the fossil fuel industry continues to climb despite promises to start dumping them five years ago. In 2016 the council voted to “give preference” to environmentally responsible investments instead of forking out money to banks that prop up fossil fuels ‚Äì provided that didn’t cut into the returns. …

A MASKED-UP Vincent council electors’ AGM saw about 20 residents pass more than a dozen motions for council to consider. Successful motions included: • Residents around Vincent’s 10 Monmouth Street park, concerned about the council’s plan to sell it off, asked for the park to be restored to its former glory instead. The council consulted…

PERTH film-maker Bree Billington-Davies and her small production company Contingent Productions spent three years touring African and European conservation hotspots to get a warts and all view of what it’s like trying to save the world’s ever-growing list of endangered wildlife. Forget the headline-grabbing stories of cuddly critters settling into their new leafy sanctuary –…