A PUSH to allow Perth bars and restaurants to serve alcohol in alfresco “pop-ups” has been thwarted by Perth council. Cr Jemma Green spearheaded the motion at a council meeting earlier this week, saying it would put brick and mortar businesses on an even footing with businesses like the twilight hawkers market. Universal bar owner…

AFTER three stints as Bayswater mayor and 23 years as a councillor, Terry Kenyon is facing bankruptcy proceedings in the federal court. Lavan Legal has applied to have Cr Kenyon, a freeman of the city, declared bankrupt over bills he incurred while suing fellow councillors Mike Anderton and Mike Sabatino for defamation. If the law…

THE Salvation Army has launched a new phone service which encourages members of the public to take a more active role in helping homeless people. If you encounter someone sleeping rough and feel comfortable passing on advice, the Salvo’s City Homeless Response can provide details for services to assist them – like St Bart’s, Uniting…

FANCY a dunny tour? Bayswater council and artist Duncan Moon reckon tourists might soon be putting the squat, concrete public toilets at Claughton Reserve on their Perth itinerary thanks to a $60,000 makeover. Moon hopes his curvilinear design with a tortoise-shell roof (reference the western swamp tortoise, WA’s most endangered reptile), ornamental egret columns and…

RIGHT turns will be banned as part of a trial to solve traffic snarls at the notoriously clogged intersection of Beaufort and Walcott streets in Mt Lawley. The intersection has been a bugbear for local politicians for years because Walcott Street is on the boundary of Stirling and Vincent, and while drivers and pedestrians regularly…

PERTH city council’s planning committee has backed the heritage listing of Edith Cowan’s 130-year old home by WA’s heritage council. Heritage minister Albert Jacob moved to protect the house in September after plans were submitted by owners Francesco and Carlo Cardaci to replace it with a $100 million, seven-storey hotel. After intense lobbying, including from…

Teddy bears aren’t all button noses and fluffy ears; otherwise why would you need a disguise to go down in the woods? It’s an idea artists DeeDee Noon, Kevin Ballantine and Gill Willmer take to the extreme with a kid-friendly-ish Halloween teddy bears’ picnic at Edith Cowan university on Monday, October 31 from 5.30 –…

A DUAL-PURPOSE path in the Baigup wetlands has been given a facelift following successful lobbying by the Baigup Wetlands Interest Group. The City of Bayswater matched a $19,000 federal government grant, which was spent on installing rumble strips, line-marking the pathway, putting up signage, and creating viewing areas for residents to absorb the scenery. Federal…

PERTH’S planning committee has buckled after getting a slap-down from staff who want to heritage list the Grand Central Hotel. The hotel is owned by lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi and her husband Joe, who’d tried to limit the listing to various parts of the building amid plans to refurbish it. At September’s committee meeting councillors…

A PUSH for Bayswater councillors to get allowances paid in arrears has been postponed until next year. Cr Catherine Ehrhardt spearheaded the policy review, saying up-front payment wasn’t good for accountability, because councillors could resign before completing their term. “I will not let money override my ethical principles,” Cr Ehrhardt said at a council meeting…