Public left out in Hyde Park path plan A CYCLE route dissecting Hyde Park is among some questionable paths in a new WA government bike plan. The WA Department of Transport’s draft Long Term Cycle Network for Perth and Peel up for endorsement by Vincent council next week.  While some councils have asked for input from…

AFTER missing out on federal funding during the sports rorts scandal, Mount Lawley Bowling Club has nabbed some state cash to synthesise one of its greens.  The club had applied for $423,000 of federal money to replace the lawns with synthetic greens, which are hardier, use less water and aren’t susceptible to turf mites. Despite the…

A TRIAL ban on right turns at the Beaufort Street/Walcott Street intersection has seen a massive drop in accidents and will be made permanent. Getting the ban in place took years of bartering between Main Roads and Vincent and Stirling councils, before a one-year trial started in June 2017. It was so problem-free no one…

NOT cancelled, just delayed: the replacement eight-storey building for the old Beaufort Street laundry is still in the pipeline, just with fewer big trees. The first version of the Baltinas-designed block was approved by Vincent council a year ago. The apartment/shops/office combo was lauded for its luscious greenery and seen as a vote of confidence…

CONSTRUCTION is due to start on Perth’s east end revitalisation project. The works bring Hay Street down to 20kmh for a “pedestrian priority zone” around Pier and Irwin Streets, with trees, street furniture, wide footpaths and a new public space going in named Kaal yimniny, Noongar for “fire here”. Council house’s lights, usually used to…

ARTIST Cim Sears was in her early 50s when she learned of her Aboriginal heritage and her ancestral connection to the western desert. “There’s an enormous amount of stories that haven’t come to the surface about western desert Aboriginal communities,” Sears says. Her latest exhibition draws on practice-led research exploring those connections, creating works and walking…

WAYJO scores rent deal THE WA Youth Jazz Orchestra will stay put in Maylands after Bayswater council approved a massive rent discount. WAYJO’s been at the historic art deco Maylands Hall since 2015, paying $6,600 a year in rent, another $5,000 in rates and levies, and $11,800 on utilities. Its lease is up for renewal and…

ANOTHER major redevelopment of the Leederville Hotel site is in the works just six years after the last big revamp rebranded it to “Bill’s Bar and Bites”. Owner FJM Property is seeking approval for what it’s calling a “a new social centre for Leederville”. It’s a $3 million “general uplift” of the hotel’s interior, the…

THE two-year refurbishment of His Majesty’s Theatre has been completed. The WA government put $6.5 million in the ‘18/19 budget for the works, including a new automated orchestra pit lift, new acoustic treatments, better air-conditioning that won’t interfere with sound quality, new accessible toilets, a new staircase straight from Hay Street rather than the old…