NEW changes to payroll tax are being offered by the Liberal party in a pre-election bid to win over small businesses like Lake Street cafe owner John Vallini. He’s run Tarts cafe for 10 years and says small business is very sensitive to fluctuations in the economy. He employs a half dozen staff, but last…

BUREAUCRATIC delays are jeopardising a key planning amendment for zoning on Beaufort Street, says The Mount Lawley Society. The amendment area, stretching between Salisbury Street and Walcott Street, will introduce new rules for subdivision, protect buildings built prior to 1960, and simplify zoning categories. The amendment received unanimous support from Stirling council in May last…

PERTH council has voted to demolish Anzac House on St Georges Terrace and replace it with a 10-level, mixed use facility for the Returned Services League WA. The new purpose-built facility will provide RSLWA with the ability to take advocacy and welfare to a new level. The $18.5 million building will include the RSLWA club…

THE pre-election funding pledges are bombarding schools, sports clubs and community groups in a last ditch effort to win votes, with the major parties making it rain with promises. Cash for Mt Lawley society Mt Lawley Labor candidate Simon Millman has pledged $10,000 to the Mount Lawley Society to help them archive historical documents and…

FOR 35 years Mandy’s Deli owners Dina and Frank Rechichi have dreaded the rain. The Maylands couple say they’ve been plagued by flooding since they purchased the business and have been hand-balled between the local council and Main Roads ever since. “The water comes in through the door every time there’s a downpour,” Ms Rechichi…

CONTENTIOUS plans for a big upgrade to Rosewood Care Group’s retirement home on Cleaver Street were deferred by the Development Assessment Panel on Wednesday, leaving the 421 people who signed a petition against it breathing a temporary sigh of relief. Perth’s in dire need of more aged care beds and the $65 million upgrade to…

IN lighter Rosewood news, the old-timers at the Cleaver Street retirement home were visited by a koala, dingo and apparently, a python, for a therapeutic animal session. WestOz Wildlife brought in the animals and coordinator Beth Mullany says “coming to nursing homes is one of the most rewarding parts of our job. Many older people…

GREENS party election signage has been graffitied up and down Beaufort and Oxford Street’s pavements and WA Police have been called in to find the culprit. The #Green17 hashtag, used by Greens pollies for the impending state election, has been spraypainted onto footpaths every couple of metres in some parts of town. Greens campaign manager…

AN APP which marries small business owners with cheap unused premises will help transform Bayswater into a ‘Smart City’, says Future Bayswater chair Paul Shanahan. Developed by Perth’s Alina Racu, The Local Tribe has been dubbed “Airbnb for industrial spaces”, and helps landlords find short-term tenants for properties that would otherwise lie empty. Activating Ms…

WHILE both major parties have pondered getting rid of the accident-prone Bayswater underpass, independent candidate Greg Smith reckons it’s part of the cultural fabric of the town centre and a “trucking calming device”. Along with wanting to scrap the WA Planning Commission because it favours big developers over locals and steamrolls councils, he says if…