PERTH councillors may be getting cold feet over a state and federal government plan to put an aquatic centre in the WACA. Their nervousness over being left with a hefty running and maintenance bill comes as Vincent council ponders how to keep Beatty Park Leisure Centre in good repair and Bayswater council prepares to seek…

PEOPLE power has scuttled plans to allow jetskis and waterskiers into more of the Swan River.   The Department of Transport had flagged a two-year trial extension of the Belmont waterski area upstream by 100m and downstream by 145m ‚Äì into waters used by the Maylands Yacht Club. A second prong of the plan would’ve let…

IT’S been nearly a year since Perth’s first Covid lockdown and the city’s rough sleepers are no better off this time around. Housing and homelessness advocate Shelter WA says while the streets are empty of workers and shoppers, the lockdown’s triggered a surge in requests from people needing a roof. “Service providers are being swamped…

HOMELESSNESS advocate Mark Piggott has been recognised as Perth’s citizen of the year. Mr Piggott works at St Bart’s helping people work through their trauma to help get them back into stable housing.  West Perth Local scored the active citizenship group award for putting on events and advocating for their patch’s businesses and residents. The…

AS a snap Covid lockdown exacerbates problems for Perth’s homeless people, it’s also delayed the awarding of a tender for Perth council’s Safe Night Spaces for women. The council’s first SNS was intended to provide overnight shelter for women at Hay Street’s Rod Evans Centre. The project has a $575,000 budget for refitting the centre…

THEY say local knowledge is best. So when family friends invited us to a new pizza joint in Mt Pleasant, we jumped in the bat mobile and headed there toute de suite. Situated close to the fish and chip shop on Gibson Street, Mastro is in a lovely suburban spot dappled in shade from gum…

ABOUT 2,000 people gathered in Forest Place on January 26 in support of changing the date of Australia Day – the biggest WA rally to date.  The “Invasion Day” event took place alongside other Australia Day events in the city, highlighting the country’s competing perspectives.  Premier Mark McGowan opened Australia Day by saying he didn’t think…

THE inner suburbs are being wooed with election cash from all sides, with a huge plan this week from the Liberal party to sink 500 metre of railway line to revitalise City West. Liberal leader Zak Kirkup announced the plan with Perth Liberal candidate Kylee Veskovich, saying they’d sink the railway line between Mitchell Freeway…

DESIGNS for a hefty high-tech addition to the East Perth train station site have been released for public comment. The new seven-storey high “Metronet Public Transport Control Centre” will go on the carpark north of the gloriously brown brutalist Public Transport Centre, formerly known as the Westrail Centre. Plans describe the new building as “an essential…

THEATRE-LOVING City of Perth councilmen have been asked to withdraw from the Perth Theatre Trust board to avoid giving it a testosterone overdose. The state government sets a target of a 50/50 mix of guys and dolls on government boards and the trust table is already a little gentleman-heavy, with three men and two women,…