A COOLBINIA scribe has been named writer-in-residence at the Fellowship of Australian Writers this month. Nathan Hondros is a contemporary poet and literary editor, and his work has been adapted into radio plays by the ABC and appeared in umpteen literary journals and magazines, including The Australian, Westerly and Masthead. The writers’ fellowship was formed…

VINCENT city council has spent $1000 to move a dog bowl 30 metres, following complaints. The concrete drinking bowl on Charles Veryard Reserve in North Perth was a stone’s throw from the main dog exercise area, but that didn’t stop locals lobbying for it to be moved even closer. Caroline Powell-Pepper, who walks Chippy around…

PCC hands $50,000 to oil and gas conference IT’LL cost Joe Ratepayer $50,000 but oil conference organisers reckon its visitors will spend north of $20 million in the capital city. Perth city council this week approved unanimously the handing over of $50,000 to the Australiasian oil and gas conference for next March, saying the economic…

TOOT! Toot! Perth city council this week approved a trial run of food trucks, a month after suburban Bayswater realised they might be alright. From February 1 to May 31, up to 10 food trucks—defined as kitchens-on-wheels and not Mr Whippy vans—will be allowed to roll around the city. They’ll pay $380.60 per permit, with…

A BAYSWATER councillor and Liberal Party member says the creation of councils with no wards will “lead to the politicisation of local government”. Despite his party membership, Cr Chris Cornish sits as an independent on the council. Bayswater and Bassendean are to merge and also gobble up bits of Swan and Stirling. The super-council will…

A PERTH and Vincent merger with no wards will mean only the rich can run for council, former Vincent mayor Alannah MacTiernan warns. Currently councillors in Vincent campaign for election in one of two wards, each covering about 18,000 people. If Vincent merges with Perth as one big ward, campaigning costs will skyrocket. “It’s very…

BACK when Nick Catania spearheaded the move a little over three years ago to change the Town of Vincent to the City of Vincent he told the Voice it could help stave off a takeover by another council. The move was controversial, costing $60,000 to replace all the “town insignia”. “It just gives you that…

STIRLING city council will consult lawyers on the legality of council mergers that will see the city’s boundaries shrink by up to 17 per cent. The council will also write to premier Colin Barnett requesting a poll of residents in suburbs to be annexed by neighbouring councils, including residents in Mt Lawley, Inglewood and Dianella.…

MT LAWLEY MP Michael Sutherland is preparing to go behind bars to raise money for charity—but he draws the line at the prison showers. The speaker will spend a few hours in a cell at Fremantle prison to raise funds for Autism West, Cystic Fibrosis WA and local rotary clubs. Participants must raise at least…

THE demise of the 90-year-old Tudor mansion in West Perth was ushered in with nary a mention of the building’s storied history. Eight luxury units are to take its place on a street that long ago lost most of its other aged buildings, and which now houses US consulate residents. Perth city councillor Reece Harley…